Legibility.

Legibility and readability are two terms often used synonymously, however legibility refers to the ability to distinguish one letterform from another via the physical characteristics that are inherent in the design of a particular typeface, such as x-height, character shapes, counter size, stroke contrast and type weight.

The legibility of a piece of body text is enforced by the use of a standard point sizes, sensitive leading and appropriate alignment. Absolute clarity of information combined with a minimum of interfering factors creates legible type. Readability concerns the properties of a piece of type or design that affect the ability to understand it.

Hand lettering and type play very different roles in graphic design. The simple geometrey and even textures of type ensure legibility in any context. But these qualities limit the visual impact of unmanipulated type. Hand lettering, by contrast, achieves maximum visual impact by altering the simple geometry and even textures of type. Legibility is ensured by the context and by the unique identity of handmade letters. Referring back to my dissertation a quote/design from David Carson himself sums it up.

“Don’t confuse legibility with communication. Just because something is legible doesn’t mean it communicates and, more importantly, doesn’t mean it communicates the right thing.”

Carson is very much interested (like myself) in the emotion behind a particular piece of design and the message that is communicated to the viewer before they read the words or graphics of a particular piece. In his TED talk presentation he explains and shows the meaning behind emotion in typography.

(Skip to 19:20 for Garage doors)

Although they have no real design consideration they visually represent what Carson is talking about perfectly. They are the same kind of garage door and contain identical colours and words, yet they communicate to the viewer very differently. The garage door on the left seems meek and lacks authority in comparison to the commanding type of the door on the right with it’s large type size, boldness and the three underlines.

“If the goal when working with type is to make it more readable, then heeding established legibility guidelines is of utmost importance. Departure from these “rules” should be attempted only after a designer is totally familiarised with them, and when content lends itself to expressive interpretation. Legibility represents those visible attributes in typography that make type readable.” (RobCarter.Working with text type book)

Although i want to create a (Victorian) display typeface i would like it to work as a working typeface (OTF File) in doing so i already have basic knowledge for type design and using type i decided to familiarise myself with all the rules so i don’t create problems further down the line of this process however, my typeface will consist of ligatures, visual quirks, stylistic affectiations and irregularities among character which will make the typeface less legible. I am going to create the typeface minus the Frills, but how legible will it be for a standard typeface? DUM DUM DUMMMMMM.

The Rules…

Type size, Line Length, and line spacing.

The text that flows naturally when read is achieved when a harmonious relationship exists between type size, line length and the spaces between lines of type (Leading). Even well disguised typefaces can suffer from legibility impairment when just one of these aspects is out of balance. An adjustment to one of these factors usually requires an adjustment to one more or all of them. Continuous text type that is too large or too small will easily tire the reader.

Optimum sizes for text type are between 8-11 points.

Overly long or short lines of type also tire the reader this is why counting or paying attention to the number of characters per line determines the appropriate line length.

Generally agreed that lines type consisting of sixty or seventy characters promote readability.

Line spacing ensures that the reader is not distracted by lines of type that visually run together. where the lines are too widely spaced the reader has trouble locating the next line.

For optimum sizes of type 8-11 points one to four points of line spacing can help the reader easily distinguish each line.