The Professional Look – Part IX
The Professional Look, The Complete Guide to Desktop Publishing, is a book I co-authored with Scott Tilden in 1991. Each Thursday I post an excerpt from the chapter I wrote about typography. Many of you dye-subbers also design some of the graphics you print, which includes setting type. Hopefully these posts will give you new insights into typography. Click here for my previous post.
The color of type
Without white space between lines, type can appear heavy and gray. This density of black type is called the color of type, and can psychologically deter people from reading it.
If the type you choose has a large x-height, consider increasing line spacing; with a small x-height, you might get away with no extra leading at all. Second, look at your selected font’s stroke variation. Some typefaces — Bodoni, for one — show a wide variation between the thickest and thinnest strokes in characters. The thinnest lines, often the serifs, can virtually disappear when such faces are set smaller than about 10 points.
The design of the letters, too, can affect legibility. Some typefaces, Bookman, for example, have wide open counters, the circular parts of the letters, which make them more legible.
Generally, most readers find it easy enough to read a 10-point serif typeface set with at least one extra point of line spacing: 10 on 11 in typesetting shorthand. One and one-half or two extra points of line spacing would be better: 10 on 11½ or even 10 on 12. To be sure you’re picking a reader-friendly body type style and size, test it out! Show it to some typical readers and ask their opinion.
Next week: Paragraph indents, and Saccadic rhythms: Line length
Tags: Bodoni, Bookman, counters, leading, serifs, type color, x-height
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