Chapter four focuses on the concept of legibility. Designers and typographers have a responsibility to their readers to communicate as clearly and appropriately as possible. Legibility is dependent upon contrast, simplicity and proportions. The best and most legible typefaces have a harmony between all three. The book states that legibility is an art of spatial synthesis, meaning that it is an art of balancing the forms of type and the negative space. Letters have several distinguishing characteristics. The upper halves of letters are more easily recognizable than the bottom halves. The right halves of letters hold more visual cues than the left half. The most frequently used letters, the vowels, are among some of the most illegible. The book tells me that a designer needs to be conscious of what words I am using in order to overcome some problems in legibility. The nature of words, capital and lowercase letters, interletter and interword spacing are among some of the many factors that affect legibility. There are two important factors involved in the reading process and they are word shape and internal patterns. Counterforms of letters create internal word patterns that provide cues for word recognition. The most legible size of type is between 9 to 12 point font. Type sizes that are larger than 12 point cause more fixation pauses, making reading uncomfortable and inefficient. Type sizes that are smaller than 9 point, internal patterns can break down, destroying legibility. The weight of the letters is also a factor that majorly affects legibility. Extreme thick and thin strokes within letters of a typeface make reading much more difficult, preventing reading from one group of words to the next. A dazzle or sparkle effect happens in times of illegibility, meaning that the reader experiences difficulty in distinguishing the words. Justified, unjustified, paragraphs and indentations are also among things that affect the legibility of a page of writing.
Chapter 5 is entitled “The Typographic Grid.” What is a typographic grid? This grid is a skeletal framework, used by designers, to organize information into a hierarchical system. Grid systems aid designers in making information clear and easily accessible. The grid as we know it today does not manifest from one specific person or event, but rather, is a slow build up of many different ideas that lead to the modern grid. This system of organization can be traced all the way back to the Mesopotamians impressing columnar cuneiform tablets. The modern grid finally emerged in Switzerland in the 1950s. Space is the common denominator for all typographic communication. The typographic grid is also a system of proportions. A grid ratio governs the size and placement of typographic elements (the basic grid ratio is equal to X:2X). The Golden Section (1:1.618) and the Fibonacci Sequence are among just two of many systems of proportions that have been put in use over the history of typography and other arts. These systems of proportions are so common that they are even found among things in nature, such as pinecones and sea shells. Text on a page can either be organized into single column grids (such as traditional literature) or into multi-column grids (such as much of typography today). The problem that is always present in single column grids is to keep in mind that the text block and the margins are on a proportional system as well. When working with multi-column grids, it is essential to balance three interdependent variables: type size, line length, and interline spacing (leading). Any adjustment to one of these variables will most likely result in a change to the other two. It is possible to control these variables while still creating an aesthetically rhythmic feel to the page.
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