Joseph's
eJournal
T Y P O G R A P H Y February 20, 2007
Typography as defined by Jacci Howard Bear is the design and use of typefaces as a means of visual communication from calligraphy to the ever-developing use of digital type. From my own personal observation, typography influences design by conveying the message through the use of various typefaces and fonts that are appropriate with the interface on which they are being used. There are certain effective ways of presenting typography to effectively communicate to the reader, and others that might be ineffective. An example of an effective way is to use bold text or capital letters for emphasis inorder to draw attention to the subject matter, and to use fonts that are familiar and are multi-platform, and cross-browser compatible. An ineffective use of typography is using very small font sizes that are almost not legible, or overly animated text which might end up being a nuisance to the reader.
Three examples to support my observations, from McCraken and Wolfe are:
On page 175 chapter 10.3 McCraken and Wolfe caution that "What succeeds in print might not work on a computer monitor since monitors have a far coarser resolution than does print." Which supports my argument that effective typography should be multi-platform compatible. In otherwords try to make typography suitable for view in print, and on monitors. Secondly, on page 183 chapter 10.6, McCraken and Wolfe suggest that ,"We use 10-point or 12-point font sizes because using fonts smaller than 10-point will slow a persons reading speed, and people over 65 prefer 12 or even 14-point fonts." This once again supports my observation that using small font sizes that are almost non-legible are an ineffective way of applying typography to communicate a message. Last and not least, McCraken and Wolfe on page 184 advise, "Never use underlining for emphasis since users might consider underlined text to be a link." As I have stated, emphasis should be attained through bold or capital letters. Please see my title Typography above this page. McCraken and Wolfe also suggest Italics as an option for emphasis.
Three Web site links that support my answers are:
Jacci Howard Bear who says "The younger and the older your target audience, the larger the type size should be for comfortable reading. Getting older doesn't necessarily mean poor eyesight for everyone; however, declining vision is a common side effect of aging." She goes on to illustrate further here:
Know your audience. (Bold Goudy Old Style 18pt.)
One size does not fit all. (Bold Georgia 12pt.)
One font does not fit all sizes. (Bold Ms Sans Serif 9pt.)
The more you know about your readership (Verdana 8 pt.)
the better types size choices you'll make.
Also Nadav Savio of Web Monkey observes, "Type also affects communication in the straightforward sense of legibility. If I can't read your text, I certainly can't understand it, no matter how clever your writing may be. But legibility isn't just an algorithm to follow ("always use 66 characters per line" or "serif typefaces are more readable than sans-serif"). Legibility is subtly affected by the shape, spacing, and size of individual letters and words, and the arrangement of those words into lines on the page or screen."
A third Website link that supports my view is Daniel Will Harris site who adds, "Type can be beautiful and decorative--but if type calls undue attention to itself or makes it more difficult to read the text--then it becomes self-conscious and distracting--like bad movie direction. Of course, some people will love this and tell you how brilliant you are--but they won't read the text. So what's the point?"
Additonal resources are from Erin Kisane (from Typography Matters) who says, "There’s another aspect of online typography, however, that’s been almost entirely ignored: well-formed punctuation. Not just grammatically correct (that’s a good first step), but typographically correct punctuation." I refer to this as being multi-platform and cross-browser compatible. This is because fonts and typefaces display differently on different browsers, in some browsers like Safari for Mac the font might not appear well-formed or punctuated.
In addition Keith Chi-Hang Tam from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University puts a different poetic spin on typography and says, "In graphic design, typography …portrays themes or emotions through text. . . is used to back up what the copy is saying . . . is for establishing a ‘feel’ or an image of a company . . . is eye-catching . . . is used to get you to buy products . . . works with or compliments an image . . . should cater for the requirements of different audiences . . . is part of a brand or corporate identity . . . expresses emotions and ideas . . .evokes moods . . . says something about products or services . . . visually grabs attention . . . ensures readability. . . is used to create appeal for different markets . . . is used to identify." Since this class has to deal with design, I thought I'd throw this one in to amuse your readablity senses.
Three new terms I've learned from McCraken and Wolfe's book are:
Page 174 - An em: This is a linear measure, equal to the point size of the font.
Page 172 - The x-height: The vertical distance between the baseline and the midline.
Page 179 - Proportional spacing: Each character is allotted a width proportional to its natural geometry.
RESOURCES:
Nadav Savio: Web Monkey
Erin Kisane: http://alistapart.com/articles/typography
Keith Chi-Hang Tam: http://keithtam.net/about.html
Daniel Will Harris: http://www.will-harris.com/use-type.htm
Jacci Howard Bear: http://desktoppub.about.com/cs/basic/g/typography.htm
[Home] [2D Interface] [3D Multimedia] [Blog] [Contact]
Designed and maintained by Graph-X Media a Division of Mp3joseph.Com ©2007 All Rights Reserved.