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XiBAmagazine.com U

text?

Whats the right

typeface forHow tochoose a typeface for

clear, easy reading overlong distances. Continued iStockphoto.com

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Before&After XiBAmagazine.com U

Selecting text type 0269

TText type is more common than any

other. Text makes up the acres of gray

in books, magazines, reports, and

hundreds of other documents. When

readingis the primary goal, its the

designers job to ensure that the text

is smooth, flowing and pleasant to

read. The hallmarks of good text type

are legibilityand readability. Legibility

refers to clarity; its how readily oneletter can be distinguished from all

others. Readability refers to how well

letters interact to compose words,

sentences and paragraphs. When

evaluating the choices, the operative

word is medium.

Whats the right typeface for text?For text thats smooth, clear and readable, the operative word is medium

An example ofmedium is Utopia.

Medium x-heightMedium height-to-width ratio

Medium counters

Medium stroke

width variation

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1. Pick a typeface with similar character widths

For the smoothest appearance, an alphabets charac-ters should have similar widths. Reading has a nat-

ural rhythm; an alphabet such as Futura (below, top)

with widely varying character widths disrupts it.

aefjsrm

aef jsrm

2. Medium height-to-width ratio

We identify letters by their physical characteristicsstems, bars, loops, curves and so on; the clearer

they are the more legible the letter. As letters are

compressed (or expanded), these features get dis-

torteddiagonal strokes, for example, become quite

verticaland so are harder to identify.

5

3 1

S S

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nnn nBeBe

4. Look for small variations in stroke weight

The best text faces have stroke weights that varysomewhat, which make converging lines that help

the eye flow smoothly. But avoid extremes. Modern

styles (below, left) vary too much; at high resolu-

tion their beautiful, superthin strokes disappear in

a dazzle. Sleek geometric styles (below, right) vary

little or not at all, so are too uniform.

Bauer Bodoni | Texture andflasp net exating end mist of itsnooling. Spaff forl isnt cub-ular but quastic, leam restartthat cant prast. Its tope, thisfluant chasible. Silk, shast, lapeand behast the thin chack. Ihave lot to say.Why? Elesara

Futura Medium | Texture thenet exating end mist of it snool-ing. Spaff forl isnt cubular butquastic, leam restart that cantprebast. Its tope, this fluantchasible. Silk, shast, lape andbehast the thin chack. I have lotto say. Why? Elesara and order

3. Medium x-height

The x-height of a typestyle is the height of itslowercase characters. The larger the x-height, the

denser the type will appear. You want medium;

unusually tall or short x-heights are better suited

for specialty projects.

PPP

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abg

5. Watch out for mirrors

Geometric typestyles are so uniform that theirletters are often mirror images. For text, this is not

idealthe more distinct each letter is, the more

legible whole words will be. Look for typestyles

that dont mirror.

bbbb

6. Avoid overlarge counters

Counters are the enclosed spaces inside letters.Avoid typestyles whose counters are very large in

relation to the stroke weight. In the case of Avant

Garde (below), note how much greater the space

inside the letters is than the space outside! This will

slow the reader; set in text (bottom), Avant Garde

looks like Swiss cheese!

Texture and flasp net exating end mist of it snooling.

Spaff forl isnt cubular but quastic, leam restart that cant

prebast. Its tope, this fluant chasible. Silk, shast, lape

and behast the thin chack. It has larch to say fan. Why?

Elesara and order is fay of alm. A card whint not oogum

or bont. Pretty simple, glead and tarm. Texture and flasp

net exating end mist of it. Forl isnt cubular but quastic,

leam restart that cant prebast. Whint not oogum or

bont! Pretty simple, glead and tarm. Texture flasp. Silk,

shast, lape and behast the thin chack. It has larch

qb

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7. Avoid quirkinessTypographic sprites are fun to look at and great

for heads, but in text they wear out their welcome

fast. Why? The extra swashiness gives the eye too

much to follow and is very tiring.

Favorite text facesWhile many typefaces meet the requirements

of legibility, readability and beauty, the following

four are the ones we turn to most often:

Texture and flasp net exating end mist of it

snooling. Spaff forl isnt cubular but quastic;leam restart that cant preast. Its tope, thisfluant chasible. Silk, chast, lape and behastthe thin chack. It has larch to say fan. Why?Elesara and order is fay of alm. A card whintnot ooum or bont. Pretty simple, glead andtarm. Texture and flasp end mist of it sno-

oling. Silk, shast, lape and behast the thinchack. It has larch to say fan. Why? Elesara

Texture and flasp net exating endmist of it snooling. Spaff forl isntcubular but quastic, leam restart thatcant prebast. Its tope, this fluantchasible. Silk, shast, lape and behastthe thin chack. It has larch to sayfan. Why? Elesara and order is fayof alm. A card whint not oogum or

xture and flaspist of it snooling

Adobe Caslon(11/12.75 pt)

First choice for books, Caslon may be the

Roman alphabets most readable typeface.Its letters arent beautiful, but strung into

sentences and paragraphs they have fit,

texture, bite, and can be read comfortably

for hours. Caslon will withstand even the

tightest leading.

gkrv

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Favorite text faces

Texture and flasp net exating endmist of it snooling. Spaff forl isntcubular but quastic, leam restart thatcant prebast. Its tope, this fluantible.Silk, shast, lape and behast the thinchack. It has larch to say fan. Wharaand order is fay of alm. A card whitnot oogum or bont. Pretty simple

xture and flasp nist of it snooling.

Adobe Garamond(11.5/12.75 pt)

If we could have only one typeface, this

would be it; Garamond is easy to read andelegant, too. A little on the dressy side,

Garamond is a fine display facerare in

this classand as a result can carry a doc-

ument all by itself. Garamond sets small;

set text in ten-point minimum with about

ten percent extra leading.

ITC Stone Serif(9.5/12.75 pt)

Stone is boring to look at but buttery to

read. Characterized by its stubby, lower-case rthat tucks snugly to its neighbors,

Stone is designed for outstanding fit. It

sets large; nine-point is as big as you

should go. Use at least thirty-five percent

extra leading.

Janson Text 55 Roman(10.5/12.75 pt)

Janson holds the middle ground between

the earthy, workmanlike nature of Caslonand the high classiness of Garamond.

Rounder and denser, it has a chiseled,

resolute appearance. Janson sets about

average size; give it about twenty percent

extra leading.

Texture and flasp net exating end mist

of it snooling. Spaff forl isnt cubular

but quastic, leam restart that cant

prebast. Its tope, this fluant chasible.

Silk, shast, lape and behast the thin

chack. It has larch to say fan. Why?

Elesara and order is fay of alm. A card

whint not oogum or bont. Pretty sim-

xture and flasp ne

f it snooling. Spaff Texture and flasp net exating endmist of it snooling. Spaff forl isntcubular but quastic, leam restart thatcant prebast. Its tope, this fluantchasible. Silk, shast, lape and behastthe thin chack. It has larch to sayfan. Why? Elesara and order is fayof alm. A card whint not oogum or

xture and flasp nef it snooling. Spaff

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Selecting text type 8of 8

Before & After magazine

Before & After has been sharing its practical approach

to graphic design since 1990. Because our modern world

has made designers of us all (ready or not), Before &

After is dedicated to making graphic design understand-

able, useful and even fun for everyone.

John McWade Publisher and creative director

Gaye McWade Associate publisher

Vincent Pascual Staff designer

Dexter Mark Abellera Staff designer

Editorial board Gwen Amos, Carl Winther

Before & After magazine

323 Lincoln Street, Roseville, CA 95678

Telephone 916-784-3880

Fax 916-784-3995

E-mail mailbox@bamagazine.com

www http://www.bamagazine.com

Copyright 2005 Before & After magazine, ISSN

1049-0035. All rights reserved

You may pass this article around, but you may not alter

it, and you may not charge for it. You may quote brief

sections for review. If you do this, please credit Before

& After magazine, and let us know.To feature free

Before & After articles on your Web site, please contact

us. For permission to include all or part of this article in

another work, please contact us.

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Back | Paper-saver format

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For paper-saver formatPrint: (Specify pages 1013)

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Before & After is made to fit your binder

Before & After articles are intended for permanent reference. All are titled and numbered.

For the current table of contents, click here. To save time and paper, a paper-saver format of this article,

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1of4

Selectingte

xttype0269

0269Selectingtext

type

TTex

ttypeismorecommon

thanany

oth

er.Textmakesuptheac

resof

gray

inbooks,magazines,repor

ts,and

hundredsofotherdocuments.When

readingistheprimarygoal,itsthe

des

ignersjobtoensuretha

tthetext

issmooth,flowin

gandpleasantto

rea

d.Thehallmarksof

goodtexttype

are

legibilityandreadability.Legibility

referstoclarity;itshowrea

dilyone

lettercanbedistin

guished

fromall

oth

ers.Readabilityrefersto

howwell

lettersinteracttocom

pose

words,

sen

tencesandpara

graphs.

When

eva

luatingthechoices,the

operative

wordismedium.

Anexa

mpleofmediumisUtopia.

Mediumx-height

Medium

height-to-widthratio M

ediumcountersM

ediumstroke

widthvariation

te

xt?

W

hatstheright

typefacefor

Howto

chooseatypefacefor

clear,ea

syreadin

go

ver

lon

gdistances.

iStockphoto.com

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amagazine.com

2of4

Selectingte

xttype0269

0269Selectingtext

type

BauerBodoni|Texture

and

flaspnetexatingendm

istofit

snoolin

g.Spaffforlisntcub-

ularbutquastic,leamrestart

thatcantprast.Itstop

e,this

fluantchasible.Silk,shast,lape

andbehastthethincha

ck.I

havelottosay.Why?E

lesara

nnnn

BeBe

4.Lookforsmallva

riationsinstrokeweight

Thebesttextfacesh

avestrokeweightsthatvary

somewhat,whichm

akeconvergin

glinesthathelp

theeyeflowsmooth

ly.Butavoidextremes.Mod

ern

styles(below,left)varytoomuch;athighresolu-

tiontheirbeautiful,

superthinstrokesdisa

ppearin

adazzle.Sleekgeom

etricstyles(below,right)va

ry

littleornotatall,so

aretoouniform.

FuturaMedium|Texturethe

netexatingendmisto

fitsnool-

ing.Spaffforlisntcubularbut

quastic,leamrestartthatcant

prebast.Itstope,thisfluant

chasible.Silk,shast,lapeand

behastthethinchack.

Ihavelot

tosay.Why?Elesaraandorder

3.Med

iumx-height

Thex-

heightofatypestyleistheh

eightofits

lowerc

asecharacters.Thelargerth

ex-height,the

denserthetypewilla

ppear.Youwantmedium;

unusu

allytallorshortx-heightsarebettersuited

forspe

cialty

pro

jects.

PPP

1.Pick

atypefacewithsimilarch

aracterwidths

Forthesmoothestappearance,an

alphabetscharac-

terssh

ouldhavesimilarwidths.Readinghasanat-

uralrh

ythm;analphabetsuchasF

utura(below,top)

withw

idelyvaryin

gcharacterwidthsdisru

ptsit.

aefjsrm

aefjsrm

2.Mediumheight-to-widthratio

Weidentifylettersb

ytheir

ph

ysicalcharacteristics

stems,bars,loops,curvesandsoon;theclearer

theyarethemorele

gibletheletter.Aslettersare

com

pressed(orexp

anded),thesefeatures

getd

is-

torteddia

gonalst

rokes,forexam

ple,become

quite

verticalandsoarehardertoidentify.

5

3

1

SS

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3of4

Selectingte

xttype0269

0269Selectingtexttype

7.Avoidquirkiness

Typographicspritesarefuntolookatandgreat

forheads,butintexttheywearouttheirwelcome

fast.W

hy?Theextraswashinessgivestheeyetoo

muchtofollowandisverytiring.

Favoritetextfaces

Whileman

ytypefacesmeetthere

quirements

oflegibility,readabilit

yandbeauty,thefollowin

g

fouraretheonesweturntomostoften:

Textureandflaspnetexatingendmistofit

snooling.Spaffforlisnt

cubularbutquastic;

leamrestartthatcantpreast.Itstope,this

fluantchasible.Silk,cha

st,lapeandbehast

thethinchack.Ithaslarchtosayfan.Why?

Elesaraandorderisfay

ofalm.Acardwhint

notooumorbont.Prettysimple,gleadand

tarm.Textureandflaspe

ndmistofitsno-

oling.Silk,shast,lapean

dbehastthethin

chack.Ithaslarchtosa

yfan.Why?Elesara

Textureandflaspnetex

atingend

mistofitsnooling.Spaffforlisnt

cubularbutquastic,leam

restartthat

cantprebast.Itstope,thisfluant

chasible.Silk,shast,lapeandbehast

thethinchack.Ithaslarchtosay

fan.Why?Elesaraandorderisfay

ofalm.Acardwhintno

toogumor

xture

andflasp

istof

itsnooling

AdobeCaslon(11/12.75p

t)

Firstchoiceforbooks,Caslonmaybethe

Romanalphabetsmostrea

dabletypeface.

Itslettersarentbeautiful,butstrunginto

sentencesandparagraphs

theyhavefit,

texture,bite,andcanbereadcomfortably

forhours.Caslonwillwiths

tandeventhe

tightestleading.

gkrv

abg

5.Watchoutformirrors

Geometrictypestylesaresounifor

mthattheir

letters

areoftenmirrorimages.Fortext,thisisnot

ideal

themoredistincteachlette

ris,themore

legible

wholewordswillbe.Lookf

ortypestyles

thatdontmirror.

bb

bb

6.Avoidoverlargeco

unters

Countersaretheenclosedspacesinsideletters.

Avoidtypestyleswhosecountersareverylargein

relationtothestrokeweight.InthecaseofAvant

Garde(below),noteh

owmuchgreaterthespace

insidethelettersisthanthespaceoutside!Thisw

ill

slowthereader;setin

text(bottom),AvantGarde

lookslikeSwisschees

e!

Textureandflaspnetexa

tingendmistofitsnooling.

Spaffforlisntcubularbu

tquastic,leam

restartthatcant

prebast.Itstope,thisflua

ntchasible.Silk,shast,lape

andbehastthethinchac

k.Ithaslarchtosayfan.Why?

Elesaraandorderisfayo

falm.Acardwhintnotoogum

orbont.Prettysimple,gle

adandtarm.Textureandflasp

netexatingendmistofit.Forlisntcubularbutquastic,

leam

restartthatcantprebast.Whintnotoogum

or

bont!Prettysimple,gleadandtarm.Textureflasp.Silk,

shast,lapeandbehastth

ethinchack.Ithaslarch

q

b

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Selectingte

xttype0269

0269Selectingtexttype

Favoritetextfaces

Tex

tureandflaspnetexatingend

mistofitsnooling.Spaffforlisnt

cub

ularbutquastic,leamrestartthat

cantprebast.Itstope,thisfluantible.

Silk

,shast,lapeandbehastthethin

cha

ck.Ithaslarchtosayfan.Whara

and

orderisfayofalm.Acardwhit

not

oogumorbont.Prettysimple

xtureandflaspn

istofitsnooling.

AdobeGaramond(11.5/12.75pt)

Ifwec

ouldhaveonlyonetypeface,this

would

beit;Garamondiseasytoreadand

elegan

t,too.Alittleonthedressyside,

Garam

ondisafinedisplayfacerarein

thisclassandasaresultcancarryadoc-

ument

allbyitself.Garamondsetssmall;

settex

tinten-pointminimumwithabou

t

tenpe

rcentextraleading.

ITCStoneSerif(9.5/12

.75pt)

Stoneisboringtolooka

tbutbutteryto

read.Characterizedbyitsstubby,lower-

caserthattuckssnugly

toitsneighbors,

Stoneisdesignedforou

tstandingfit.It

setslarge;nine-pointis

asbigasyou

shouldgo.Useatleastt

hirty-fivepercent

extraleading.

Janson

Text55Roman(10.5/12.75pt)

Jansonholdsthemiddlegroundbetween

theearthy,workmanlikenatureofCaslon

andthe

highclassinessofGaramond.

Rounde

randdenser,ithasachiseled,

resoluteappearance.Jansonsetsabout

average

size;giveitabouttwentypercen

t

extrale

ading.

Textureandflaspnetexatingendmist

ofitsnooling.Spafffo

rlisntcubular

butquastic,leamrestartthatcant

prebast.Itstope,this

fluantchasible.

Silk,shast,lapeandbehastthethin

chack.Ithaslarchtosayfan.Why?

Elesaraandorderisfayofalm.Acard

whintnotoogumorb

ont.Prettysim-

xture

andfl

aspn

e

fit

sn

ooling.Spaff

Textureandflaspnetexatingend

mist

ofitsnooling.Spaffforlisnt

cubularbutquastic,leamrestartthat

cantprebast.Itstope,thisfluant

chas

ible.Silk,shast,lapeandbehast

thethinchack.Ithaslarchtosay

fan.

Why?Elesaraandorderisfay

ofalm.Acardwhintnotoogumor

xtureandflasp

ne

fitsnooling.Sp

aff

Before&Aftermag

azine

Before&Afterhasbeensharingitspracticalapproach

tographicdesignsinc

e1990.Becauseourmodernwor

ld

hasmadedesignerso

fusall(readyornot),Before&

Afterisdedicatedtom

akinggraphicdesignunderstand

-

able,usefulandeven

funforeveryone.

JohnMcWadePublisherandcreativedirector

GayeMcWadeAssociatepublisher

VincentPascualSta

ffdesigner

DexterMarkAbelle

raStaffdesigner

EditorialboardGwen

Amos,CarlWinther

Before&Aftermag

azine

323LincolnStreet,Ro

seville,CA95678

Telephone916-784-3

880

Fax916-784-3995

E-mailmailbox@bamagazine.com

wwwhttp://www.bamagazine.com

Copyright2005Be

fore&Aftermagazine,ISSN

1049-0035.Allrightsreserved

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argeforit.Youmayquotebrief

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&Aftermagazine,and

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