Geometric typestyles are so uniform that their letters are often mirror images. Sleek geometric styles (below, right) vary little or not at all, so are too uniform. Modern styles (below, left) vary too much at high resolution, their beautiful, super-thin strokes disappear in a dazzle. The best text faces have stroke weights that vary somewhat, which make converging lines that help the eye flow smoothly. You want medium unusually tall or short x-heights are better suited for specialty projects. The larger the x-height, the denser the type will appear. The x-height of a typestyle is the height of its lowercase characters. As letters are compressed (or expanded), these features get distorted-diagonal strokes, for example, become quite vertical-and so are harder to identify. The clearer they are, the more legible the letter. We identify letters by their physical characteristics: stems, bars, loops, curves and so on. Reading has a natural rhythm an alphabet such as Futura (below, top) with widely varying character widths disrupts it. 1. Similar character widthsįor the smoothest appearance, an alphabet’s characters should have similar widths. When evaluating the choices, the operative word is medium. Readability refers to how letters interact to compose words, sentences, and paragraphs. Legibility refers to clarity it’s how readily one letter can be distinguished from all others. The hallmarks of good text type are legibility and readability. In my new video course, Before & After: How to Set Perfect Text, I walk you through choosing the right typefaces and adjusting the letterforms so they’re balanced and beautiful.īut here are eight quick tips to help you choose the most readable typeface for print. When reading is the primary goal, it’s the designer’s job to ensure that the text is smooth, flowing, and pleasant to read.
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