Training your eye Times New Roman "Human Society, the world, man The alphabet is a source...first comes the house of man and its construction, then the human body, its build and deformities; then justice, music, the church; war, harvest, geometry; the mountain, nomadic life and secluded life, astronomy, toil and rest; the horse and the snake; the hammer and the urn which-- turned over and struck-- makes a bell; trees, river, roads; and finally destiny and God. That is what the alphabet signifies. --Victor Hugo, 1802-1885
Training your eye Times New Roman Hoefler Text Regular Zapfino Regular + glyph "Human Society, the world, man The alphabet is a source...first comes the house of man and its construction, then the human body, its build and deformities; then justice, music, the church; war, harvest, geometry; the mountain, nomadic life and secluded life, astronomy, toil and rest; the horse and the snake; the hammer and the urn which-- turned over and struck-- makes a bell; trees, river, roads; and finally destiny and God. Hu m a n So c i e t y, the world, man The alphabet is a source first comes the house of man and its construction, then the human body, its build and deformities; then justice, music, the church; war, harvest, geometry; the mountain, nomadic life and secluded life, astronomy, toil and rest; the horse and the snake; the hammer and the urn which turned over and struck makes a bell; trees, river, roads; and finally destiny and God. Victor Hugo, 1802 1885 That is what the alphabet signifies. --Victor Hugo, 1802-1885
Training your eye Times New Roman Hoefler Text Regular Zapfino Regular + glyph Frutiger Roman + 95 Ultra Black "Human Society, the world, man The alphabet is a source...first comes the house of man and its construction, then the human body, its build and deformities; then justice, music, the church; war, harvest, geometry; the mountain, nomadic life and secluded life, astronomy, toil and rest; the horse and the snake; the hammer and the urn which-- turned over and struck-- makes a bell; trees, river, roads; and finally destiny and God. Hu m a n So c i e t y, the world, man The alphabet is a source first comes the house of man and its construction, then the human body, its build and deformities; then justice, music, the church; war, harvest, geometry; the mountain, nomadic life and secluded life, astronomy, toil and rest; the horse and the snake; the hammer and the urn which turned over and struck makes a bell; trees, river, roads; and finally destiny and God. Victor Hugo, 1802 1885 X? 12-point type is too large. Metric Kerning. Line length is too short (not enough words on the line) giving uneven spacing and lots of hyphens. Quote marks are ditto marks, not quote marks. Computer ellipsis is to tightly kerned. Double hyphen instead of em dash is OK for an email. Paragraph space is created by hitting 2 returns. 10-point is easier to read because you can see entire phrases, and it looks like you know what you are doing. Optical Kerning. Flush left gives even space between the words. Curly quotes are true quotes. More air with the glyph. The Em dash (used a bit like a comma). Space between paragraph manually set (in this case 2mm). That is what the alphabet signifies. --Victor Hugo, 1802-1885 2 letter hyphenations. The last paragraph is the worst type of widow. Hyphen between dates. Small caps are computer generated. Byline is italic but the comma is roman. Double hyphen. Quote marks incorrect. No ligatures. Hyphenation eliminated. Always manually hyphenate (or don t). En dash should be used for range. The small caps are true drawn. Comma in same font as name. Ornament used instead of dash. Quotes use at beginning of each paragraph, but only closed at the end of the quote. Ligatures used. No break on line 3.
Anatomy of type Footlight MT Regular Frutiger Roman cap height T h e q u i c k b r o w n f o x jumps over the lazy dog. The height of the capital letters.
Anatomy of type Footlight MT Regular Frutiger Roman cap height x-h e i g h t T h e q u i c k b r o w n f o x jumps over the lazy dog. The x-height of a typeface is the size of the letter x. A lowercase x is the only character which reaches all four corners of the letter space. It is the x-height which makes the font seem large or small when rendered at 10pt. The x-height of fonts varies dramatically from font to font. All fonts are 30pt.
Anatomy of type Footlight MT Regular Frutiger Roman Franklin Gothic Regular, Goudy Oldstyle Regular, Edwardian Script, Hobo, Mrs Eaves Regular & Geneva Regular. cap height x-height T h e q u i c k b r o w n f o x jumps over the lazy dog. boxing boxing boxing boxing boxing boxing The point size of a font is measured from thee highest point to the lowest point, not by the x-height. All of these fonts are displayed at 50pt you can clearly see that x-height is the most important factor in the perceived size of a font.
Anatomy of type Footlight MT Regular Frutiger Roman cap height x-h e i g h t T h e q u i c k b r o w n f o x jumps over the lazy dog. b a s e l i n e The invisible line on which the typeface sits.
Anatomy of type Footlight MT Regular Frutiger Roman cap height a s c e n d e r x-h e i g h t T h e q u i c k b r o w n f o x jumps over the lazy dog. b a s e l i n e d e s c e n d e r Ascenders are strokes that rise above the x-height. Descenders are strokes that dip below the baseline.
Anatomy of type Footlight MT Regular Frutiger Roman cap height a s c e n d e r stress x-h e i g h t T h e q u i c k b r o w n f o x jumps over the lazy dog. b a s e l i n e d e s c e n d e r t h i c k a n d t h i n The angle through the thinnest parts of the curves. The transitions are known as the thick and thin.
Anatomy of type Footlight MT Regular Frutiger Roman cap height c o u n t e r a s c e n d e r stress s t r o k e x-h e i g h t T h e q u i c k b r o w n f o x jumps over the lazy dog. b a s e l i n e d e s c e n d e r s e r i f t e r m i n a l t h i c k a n d t h i n The stoke is the main line in the letter. The serif is the tail of the font. The terminal is the hole left by the negative space. A terminal is the end of the stroke without a serif.
Anatomy of type Footlight MT Regular Frutiger Roman cap height c o u n t e r a s c e n d e r stress s t r o k e b a r a n d h o o k x-h e i g h t T h e q u i c k b r o w n f o x jumps over the lazy dog. b a s e l i n e d e s c e n d e r s e r i f t e r m i n a l t h i c k a n d t h i n The bar is the horizontal stroke such as in, A, H, and t. A hook is found in f and r.
Anatomy of type Footlight MT Regular Frutiger Roman cap height c o u n t e r a s c e n d e r stress s t r o k e b a r a n d h o o k x-h e i g h t T h e q u i c k b r o w n f o x jumps over the lazy dog. b a s e l i n e d e s c e n d e r s e r i f t e r m i n a l t h i c k a n d t h i n e a r b o w l a n d l o o p The g has some special features in some fonts.
Types of faces Frutiger Roman + Black oldstyle modern slab serif sans serif Oldstyle fonts are you classic serifs. They developed out of a handwritten tradition that involved the use of a broad tipped pen held at an angle. This is what produces the thick and thin lines that create the stress. Many of these fonts are fabulous for readability in lengthy body copy. Oldstyle fonts are not necessarily old they are still being made today. After the industrial revolution the world began to change. Baroque, Rococo and oldstyle faces were named Oldstyle and a new era of font design commenced. These fonts reflected the fashion of the day and are much more sever in appearance. Modern faces have serifs but the serifs are horizontal and thin. Any stress is straight up and down. As a group they are generally much more difficult to read. Once the industrial revolution really took off a new trade was invented called advertising. This lead to the creation of many new fonts. The new style often incorporated the diagonal stress of oldstyle fonts but retained the horizontal serif of the moderns (but a little chunkier). At the time the Rosetta stone was discovered and the world was interested in all things Egyptian. The font foundries discovered they could sell more fonts if they gave them Egyptian names so they did. Consequently, these fonts are often called Egyptians. To make matters more confusing, Clarendon is considered the quintessential slab serif, so they are sometimes called Clarendons. William Caslon removed the serif from a font in 1816 because he hated them. Nobody cared. It wasn t until the Bauhaus movement that it became popular and was mimicked. The strokes in san serifs have almost no transition from thick to thin (Optima being one of the few exceptions to the rule). San serifs generally have very big x-heights so they seem quite large. Century Oldstyle Garamond Minion Perpetua Bernard Condensed Onyx Bodoni Bodoni Poster Clarendon Memphis Century Schoolbook Egyptian 505 Futura Frutiger Franklin Gothic Geneva
Types of faces Frutiger Roman + Black script blackletter distressed decorative Scrips emulate hand lettering and are present throughout typographic history. Blackletters are old Celtic fonts often found in bibles, and are usually quite elaborate and difficult to read. Welcome to the 1980s and the demolition and reconstruction of typefaces. With the advent of desktop publishing came a plethora of fringe typeface designed to jar the senses. Decorative fonts are fonts made of ballet shoes or Japanese pagodas or eraser dust they are just for fun. Bickham Script Nevison Casual Minstral Edwardian Script Lucida Blackletter
The art of readability Frutiger Roman + Black Zapfino Regular + glyph Any typeface that calls attention to itself will register lower on the readability scale. Even the slight uniqueness of Footlight MT makes it difficult to read as body copy. Things to avoid: Lots of contrast between thick and thin on the stress. Tall narrow letter forms and short squat forms. Slanted characters (italic or oblique). Fancy serifs. Any extreme features. Changing the kerning settings from metric to optical will immediately increase readability. Corsiva MT Hu m a n So c i e t y, the world, man in his entirety is in the alphabet. The alphabet is a source first comes the house of man and its construction, then the human body, its build and deformities; then justice, music, the church; war, harvest, geometry; the mountain, nomadic life and secluded life, astronomy, toil and rest; the horse and the snake; the hammer and the urn which turned over and struck makes a bell; trees, river, roads; and finally destiny and God. Footlight MT Egyptian 505 Hu m a n So c i e t y, the world, man in his entirety is in the alphabet. The alphabet is a source first comes the house of man and its construction, then the human body, its build and deformities; then justice, music, the church; war, harvest, geometry; the mountain, nomadic life and secluded life, astronomy, toil and rest; the horse and the snake; the hammer and the urn which turned over and struck makes a bell; trees, river, roads; and finally destiny and God. Victor Hugo, 1802 1885 Hu m a n Soc i e t y, the world, man The alphabet is a source first comes the house of man and its construction, then the human body, its build and deformities; then justice, music, the church; war, harvest, geometry; the mountain, nomadic life and secluded life, astronomy, toil and rest; the horse and the snake; the hammer and the urn which turned over and struck makes a bell; trees, river, roads; and finally destiny and God. Victor Hugo, 1802 1885
The art of readability Frutiger Roman + Black Zapfino Regular + glyph Garamond 10pt Minion 10pt Century 10pt The best typefaces for body copy are the oldstyle faces. They were made for use in books so they have been designed specifically for long bodies of text. Hu m a n So c i e t y, the world, man in his entirety is in the alphabet. The alphabet is a source first comes the house of man and its construction, then the human body, its build and deformities; then justice, music, the church; war, harvest, geometry; the mountain, nomadic life and secluded life, astronomy, toil and rest; the horse and the snake; the hammer and the urn which turned over and struck makes a bell; trees, river, roads; and finally destiny and God. Victor Hugo, 1802 1885 Human Society, the world, man The alphabet is a source first comes the house of man and its construction, then the human body, its build and deformities; then justice, music, the church; war, harvest, geometry; the mountain, nomadic life and secluded life, astronomy, toil and rest; the horse and the snake; the hammer and the urn which turned over and struck makes a bell; trees, river, roads; and finally destiny and God. Victor Hugo, 1802 1885 Hu m a n So c i e t y, the world, man The alphabet is a source first comes the house of man and its construction, then the human body, its build and deformities; then justice, music, the church; war, harvest, geometry; the mountain, nomadic life and secluded life, astronomy, toil and rest; the horse and the snake; the hammer and the urn which turned over and struck makes a bell; trees, river, roads; and finally destiny and God. Victor Hugo, 1802 1885
Serif vs. sans serif Frutiger Roman + Black Zapfino Regular + glyph Arno Pro 10pt Arial 10pt Arial 9pt On screen you will always find it easier to read a sans serif font. This is because the delicate serifs do not render well at 72dpi. However, the opposite is true in print. We don t really understand why a serif is easier to read than a san serif in a printed environment, but it is. There are various theories (such as: the serifs lead the eye into the next letter) but none have been proven. There seems to be some evidence that (due to its proliferation) san serif body copy is becoming more broadly accepted. However, there are rules for increasing legibility: increased leading and shorter line length being the 2 most important. Human Society, the world, man in his entirety is in the alphabet. The alphabet is a source first comes the house of man and its construction, then the human body, its build and deformities; then justice, music, the church; war, harvest, geometry; the mountain, nomadic life and secluded life, astronomy, toil and rest; the horse and the snake; the hammer and the urn which turned over and struck makes a bell; trees, river, roads; and finally destiny and God. Victor Hugo, 1802 1885 Hu m a n So c i e t y, the world, man The alphabet is a source first comes the house of man and its construction, then the human body, its build and deformities; then justice, music, the church; war, harvest, geometry; the mountain, nomadic life and secluded life, astronomy, toil and rest; the horse and the snake; the hammer and the urn which turned over and struck makes a bell; trees, river, roads; and finally destiny and God. Victor Hugo, 1802 1885 Hu m a n So c i e t y, the world, man in his entirety is in the alphabet. The alphabet is a source first comes the house of man and its construction, then the human body, its build and deformities; then justice, music, the church; war, harvest, geometry; the mountain, nomadic life and secluded life, astronomy, toil and rest; the horse and the snake; the hammer and the urn which turned over and struck makes a bell; trees, river, roads; and finally destiny and God. Victor Hugo, 1802 1885
What is wrong with this typography? Frutiger Roman This is the a genera piece for Empire Magazine (assignment for Peta). It is a 10 page spread for a special feature on GNs adapted for the big screen. Why did I get a C?
Caps vs. lowercase Frutiger Roman + Black Zapfino Regular + glyph Esta Esta Frutiger Text set in all caps is much more difficult to read. When you read you don t really read each letter, you assess the shape of the word and register the meaning from the shape. The only time you actually read a word is when you are unfamiliar with its shape. If you use all caps the shape is lost and replaced with blocks that trigger no meaning in your mind. Hu m a n So c i e t y, the world, man The alphabet is a source first comes the house of man and its construction, then the human body, its build and deformities; then justice, music, the church; war, harvest, geometry; the mountain, nomadic life and secluded life, astronomy, toil and rest; the horse and the snake; the hammer and the urn which turned over and struck makes a bell; trees, river, roads; and finally destiny and God. Human Society, the world, man in his entirety is in the alphabet. The alphabet is a source first comes the house of man and its construction, then the human body, its build and deformities; then justice, music, the church; war, harvest, geometry; the mountain, nomadic life and secluded life, astronomy, toil and rest; the horse and the snake; the hammer and the urn which turned over and struck makes a bell; trees, river, roads; and finally destiny and God. Human Society, the world, man in his entirety is in the alphabet. The alphabet is a source first comes the house of man and its construction, then the human body, its build and deformities; then justice, music, the church; war, harvest, geometry; the mountain, nomadic life and secluded life, astronomy, toil and rest; the horse and the snake; the hammer and the urn which turned over and struck makes a bell; trees, river, roads; and finally destiny and God. That is what the alphabet signifies. That is what the alphabet signifies.
Letter spacing and word spacing Frutiger Roman + Black Zapfino Regular + glyph Georgia Georgia Georgia Since we recognise phrases even better than words, any spacing anomalies between the letters or the words can hinder our ability to read the copy fluidly. There are no rules for spacing you just need to habitually look for spacing issues and to trust your eye to pick up any problems. If it looks like the letters are too close, then they are. Many script faces need to be kerned tighter together because the tails often leave spaces between the letters (such as with Victor Hugo s signature shown here). Hu m a n So c i e t y, the world, man The alphabet is a source first comes the house of man and its construction, then the human body, its build and deformities; then justice, music, the church; war, harvest, geometry; the mountain, nomadic life and secluded life, astronomy, toil and rest; the horse and the snake; the hammer and the urn which turned over and struck makes a bell; trees, river, roads; and finally destiny and God. Hu m a n So c i e t y, the world, man The alphabet is a source first comes the house of man and its construction, then the human body, its build and deformities; then justice, music, the church; war, harvest, geometry; the mountain, nomadic life and secluded life, astronomy, toil and rest; the horse and the snake; the hammer and the urn which turned over and struck makes a bell; trees, river, roads; and finally destiny and God. Hu m a n So c i e t y, the world, man The alphabet is a source first comes the house of man and its construction, then the human body, its build and deformities; then justice, music, the church; war, harvest, geometry; the mountain, nomadic life and secluded life, astronomy, toil and rest; the horse and the snake; the hammer and the urn which turned over and struck makes a bell; trees, river, roads; and finally destiny and God. That is what the alphabet signifies. Victor Hugo Victor Hugo
Line length and justification Frutiger Roman + Black Zapfino Regular + glyph If a line is too long we have trouble finding the beginning of the next line. If it too short in breaks up the phrases we recognise. There are a couple of ways to determine how wide your column should be: Georgia Hu m a n So c i e t y, the world, man The alphabet is a source first comes the house of man and its construction, then the human body, its build and deformities; then justice, music, the church; war, harvest, geometry; the mountain, nomadic life and secluded life, astronomy, toil and rest; the horse and the snake; the hammer and the urn which turned over and struck makes a bell; trees, river, roads; and finally destiny and God. No more than 10 words or no more than 65 characters (2.5 alphabets). No less than 4 words (average). If you intend fully justifying your text then err on the longer side. Shorten the line length if the typeface has a large x-height (common with sans serifs) or a very small one. If you are using reverse type (white on black) make the line a little shorter. Shorten the length if the copy is difficult to read for any reason. If it looks wrong it is wrong. Women do not like reading justified text men don t seem to mind. Hu m a n So c i e t y, the world, man in his entirety is in the alphabet. The alphabet is a source first comes the house of man and its construction [ditched some text to fit it in]...then justice, music, the church; war, turned over and struck makes a bell; trees, river, roads; and finally destiny and God. That is what the alphabet signifies. Victor Hugo, 1802 1885 Hu m a n So c i e t y, the world, man in his entirety is in the alphabet. The alphabet is a source first comes the house of man and its construction, then the human body, its build and deformities; then justice, music, the church; war, harvest, geometry; the mountain, nomadic life and secluded life, astronomy, toil and rest; the horse and the snake; the hammer and the urn which turned over and struck makes a bell; trees, river, roads; and finally destiny and God. That is what the alphabet signifies. Victor Hugo, 1802 1885 Hu m a n So c i e t y, the world, man in his entirety is in the alphabet. The alphabet is a source first comes the house of man and its construction, then the human body, its build and deformities; then justice, music, the church; war, harvest, geometry; the mountain, nomadic life and secluded life, astronomy, toil and rest; the horse and the snake; the hammer and the urn which turned over and struck makes a bell; trees, river, roads; and finally destiny and God. That is what the alphabet signifies. Hu m a n So c i e t y, the world, man in his entirety is in the alphabet. The alphabet is a source first comes the house of man and its construction, then the human body, its build and deformities; then justice, music, the church; war, harvest, geometry; the mountain, nomadic life and secluded life, astronomy, toil and rest; the horse and the snake; the hammer and the urn which turned over and struck makes a bell; trees, river, roads; and finally destiny and God. That is what the alphabet signifies.
Line length and justification Frutiger Roman + Black Zapfino Regular + glyph Georgia If a line is too long we have trouble finding the beginning of the next line. If it too short in breaks up the phrases we recognise. There are a couple of ways to determine how wide your column should be: Hu m a n So c i e t y, the world, man The alphabet is a source first comes the house of man and its construction, then the human body, its build and deformities; then justice, music, the church; war, harvest, geometry; the mountain, nomadic life and secluded life, astronomy, toil and rest; the horse and the snake; the hammer and the urn which turned over and struck makes a bell; trees, river, roads; and finally destiny and God. No more than 10 words or no more than 65 characters (2.5 alphabets). No less than 4 words (average). If you intend fully justifying your text then err on the longer side. Shorten the line length if the typeface has a large x-height (common with sans serifs) or a very small one. If you are using reverse type (white on black) make the line a little shorter. Shorten the length if the copy is difficult to read for any reason. If it looks wrong it is wrong. Women do not like reading justified text men don t seem to mind. Hu m a n So c i e t y, the world, man in his entirety is in the alphabet. The alphabet is a source first comes the house of man and its construction [ditched some text to fit it in]...then justice, music, the church; war, turned over and struck makes a bell; trees, river, roads; and finally destiny and God. That is what the alphabet signifies. Victor Hugo, 1802 1885 Hu m a n So c i e t y, the world, man in his entirety is in the alphabet. The alphabet is a source first comes the house of man and its construction, then the human body, its build and deformities; then justice, music, the church; war, harvest, geometry; the mountain, nomadic life and secluded life, astronomy, toil and rest; the horse and the snake; the hammer and the urn which turned over and struck makes a bell; trees, river, roads; and finally destiny and God. That is what the alphabet signifies. Hu m a n So c i e t y, the world, man in his entirety is in the alphabet. The alphabet is a source first comes the house of man and its construction, then the human body, its build and deformities; then justice, music, the church; war, harvest, geometry; the mountain, nomadic life and secluded life, astronomy, toil and rest; the horse and the snake; the hammer and the urn which turned over and struck makes a bell; trees, river, roads; and finally destiny and God. That is what the alphabet signifies. Hu m a n So c i e t y, the world, man in his entirety is in the alphabet. The alphabet is a source first comes the house of man and its construction, then the human body, its build and deformities; then justice, music, the church; war, harvest, geometry; the mountain, nomadic life and secluded life, astronomy, toil and rest; the horse and the snake; the hammer and the urn which turned over and struck makes a bell; trees, river, roads; and finally destiny and God. Victor Hugo, 1802 1885
Large & small x-height Frutiger Roman + Black Zapfino Regular + glyph Antique Olive Bernhard Mod Mrs Eaves An exceptionally large x height decreases legibility. Some faces have such large x-heights that it is hard to tell an n from an h such as Antique Olive. And very small x-heights also decrease legibility. The body of the character is disproportionate to the caps and ascenders, and our eyes find this distracting. The letters also appear very small. Just live they do in Bernhard Modern. Then there are fonts that seem to have mixed sized ascenders and descenders, like Mrs. Eaves. See how tall the l is compared to the t and how short the x-height is on the y and u all these things serve to decrease readability. Human Society, the world, man in his entirety is in the alphabet. The alphabet is a source first comes the house of man and its construction, then the human body, its build and deformities; then justice, music, the church; war, harvest, geometry; the mountain, nomadic life and secluded life, astronomy, toil and rest; the horse and the snake; the hammer and the urn which turned over and struck makes a bell; trees, river, roads; and finally destiny and God. Hu m a n So c i e t y, the world, man The alphabet is a source first comes the house of man and its construction, then the human body, its build and deformities; then justice, music, the church; war, harvest, geometry; the mountain, nomadic life and secluded life, astronomy, toil and rest; the horse and the snake; the hammer and the urn which turned over and struck makes a bell; trees, river, roads; and finally destiny and God. Hu m a n So c i e t y, the world, man The alphabet is a source first comes the house of man and its construction, then the human body, its build and deformities; then justice, music, the church; war, harvest, geometry; the mountain, nomadic life and secluded life, astronomy, toil and rest; the horse and the snake; the hammer and the urn which turned over and struck makes a bell; trees, river, roads; and finally destiny and God. That is what the alphabet signifies. That is what the alphabet signifies.
Line spacing (aka. leading) Frutiger Roman + Black Zapfino Regular + glyph Colonna Gill Sans Light Marker Felt To make unreadable typefaces more accessible, first play with the point size and then with the leading. Please note: I do not endorse using illegible typefaces for body copy, but if you must (for one reason or another) use a display font for copy, these are the ways you can increase its legibility. Nevertheless, these rules also apply to display type used as headings and headlines. Using default leading will make you look like an amateur. Hu m a n So c i e t y, the world, man The alphabet is a source first comes the house of man and its construction, then the human body, its build and deformities; then justice, music, the church; war, harvest, geometry; the mountain, nomadic life and secluded life, astronomy, toil and rest; the horse and the snake; the hammer and the urn which turned over and struck makes a bell; trees, river, roads; and finally destiny and God. That is what the alphabet signifies. Hu m a n So c i e t y, the world, man The alphabet is a source first comes the house of man and its construction, then the human body, its build and deformities; then justice, music, the church; war, harvest, geometry; the mountain, nomadic life and secluded life, astronomy, toil and rest; the horse and the snake; the hammer and the urn which turned over and struck makes a bell; trees, river, roads; and finally destiny and God. Hum a n So c i e t y, the world, man The alphabet is a source first comes the house of man and its construction, then the human body, its build and deformities; then justice, music, the church; war, harvest, geometry; the mountain, nomadic life and secluded life, astronomy, toil and rest; the horse and the snake; the hammer and the urn which turned over and struck makes a bell; trees, river, roads; and finally destiny and God. That is what the alphabet signifies.
Reverse type, light-weights & heavy-weights Frutiger Roman + Black Cooper Black & Eccentric American Typewriter Regular + Bold Zapfino Regular + glyph light & heavy positive negative Ultra bold and ultra lightweight fonts are difficult to read even in small amounts. Positive text is always easier to read in print when compared to negative. The constraints of print mean that the black ink bleeds into the white space via to pores in the paper. Anytime you do reverse type make sure you make it bolder (or choose a font without delicate serifs or strokes). Hu m a n So c i e t y, the world, man in his entirety is in the alphabet. The alphabet is a source Hu m a n So c i e t y, the world, man in his entirety is in the alphabet. The alphabet is a source first comes the house of man and its construction, then the human body, its build and deformities; then justice, music, the church; war, harvest, geometry; the mountain, nomadic life and secluded life, astronomy, toil and rest; the horse and the snake; the hammer and the urn which turned over and struck makes a bell; trees, river, roads; and finally destiny and God. Hu m a n So c i e t y, the world, man The alphabet is a source first comes the house of man and its construction, then the human body, its build and deformities; then justice, music, the church; war, harvest, geometry; the mountain, nomadic life and secluded life, astronomy, toil and rest; the horse and the snake; the hammer and the urn which turned over and struck makes a bell; trees, river, roads; and finally destiny and God. That is what the alphabet signifies.
What makes type legible? Gill Sans Light Frutiger Roman + Black Hobo, Caflisch Script, Interstate Light, Kenyan Coffee, Geneva, Helvetica Bold, Seraphim & Bernhard Modern Monospaced fonts, such as Courier create inconstant letter spaces, which are less legible because your eyes have to keep adjusting to the different letter spacing. Some typefaces are poorly space, which creates the same problem. Title case makes type less legible and less readable (some argue, even in headings). Your eyes and brain are less accustomed to it than lowercase. monospace Hu m a n So cie t y, the world, man in his entirety is in the alphabet. The alphabet is a source first comes the house of man and its construction, then the human body, its build and deformities; then justice, music, the church; war, harvest, geometry; the mountain, nomadic life and secluded life, astronomy, toil and rest; the horse and the snake; the hammer and the urn which turned over and struck makes a bell; trees, river, roads; and finally destiny and God. That is what the alphabet signifies. title case Human Society, The World, Man in his Entirety is in the Alphabet. The Alphabet is a Source First Comes the House of Man and its Construction, then the Human Body, its Build and Deformities; then Justice, Music, the Church; War, Harvest, Geometry; the Mountain, Nomadic Life and Secluded Life, Astronomy, Toil and Rest; the Horse and the Snake; the Hammer and the Urn Which Turned Over and Struck Makes a Bell; Trees, River, Roads; and Finally Destiny and God. That is What the Alphabet Signifies. which is best?
To quote or not to quote Frutiger Roman Helvetica, Adobe Jensen, Interstate Bold & Constantina Let s make it clear if you confuse quote, prime and ditto marks professionals in the design community will know that you don t know what you are doing. quote marks These are quote marks. These are quote marks for sans serif fonts. This type of quote is known as a curly quote. These are quote marks. These are more curly quotes. The vast majority serif fonts employ curly style quotes (with some very rare exceptions). These are quote marks. But they are known as oblique quotes rather than curly quotes. This is what the sans serif quote marks look like. prime marks Simon is not 5 6, he is 5' 6". Remember: foot = ' & inches = " ditto marks Ditto marks look exactly the same as double prime marks: There is no excuse for this mistake! " " " "These are not quote marks." They are double prime marks and below are single prime marks: 'Don t make this mistake'.
Hang that punctuation Abadi Condensed Light unhung left hung left unhung right Human Society, The World, Man in his Entirety is in the Alphabet. The Alphabet is a Source Human Society, The World, Man in his Entirety is in the Alphabet. The Alphabet is a Source Human Society, The World, Man in his Entirety is in the Alphabet. The Alphabet is a Source hung right Human Society, The World, Man in his Entirety is in the Alphabet. The Alphabet is a Source
Hung and aligned Abadi Condensed Light unhung left Human Society, The World, Man in his Entirety is in the Alphabet. The Alphabet is a Source hung left Human Society, The World, Man in his Entirety is in the Alphabet. The Alphabet is a Source unhung right Human Society, The World, Man in his Entirety is in the Alphabet. The Alphabet is a Source hung right Human Society, The World, Man in his Entirety is in the Alphabet. The Alphabet is a Source