Still another authority says text typefaces are, by definition, serif. (Graphics).Over the years, we've asserted that maximum readability read·a·ble adj. 1. Easily read; legible: a readable typeface. 2. Pleasurable or interesting to read: a readable story. of one's newsletter demands that sans serif Short horizontal lines added to the tops and bottoms of traditional typefaces, such as Times Roman. Contrast with sans-serif.  typefaces This is a list of typefaces. SerifHere you can find a graphical version of this table.
The body text should be set in serif. This all bears repeating because we continue to see expensive, supposedly professionally designed newsletters hobbled by expanses of barely readable sans serif body text. As direct marketing expert Galen Stilson once wrote, "If you are currently publishing a newsletter, magazine, catalog catalog, descriptive list, on cards or in a book, of the contents of a library. Assurbanipal's library at Nineveh was cataloged on shelves of slate. The first known subject catalog was compiled by Callimachus at the Alexandrian Library in the 3d cent. B.C. book, or advertising that involves long strings of copy and YOU ARE USING A SANS SERIF TYPE, SWITCH. Switch to serif." John Updike has an opinion on the matter, too, and rightfully so. Aside from writing an unending stream of novels, poems, essays, and book reviews, Updike seems to read practically everything being written. He wrote: "Serifs exist for a purpose. They help the eye pick up the shape of the letter. Piquant in little amounts, sans serif in page-size sheets repels readership as wax repels water." Add to those opinions--plus studies undertaken that show serif typefaces superior in text read-ability-an actual dictionary definition. The entry for "typeface The design of a set of printed characters, such as Courier, Helvetica and Times Roman. The terms "typeface" and "font" are used interchangeably, but the typeface is the primary design, while the font is the particular implementation and variation of the typeface, such as bold or italics " in The Random House Dictionary of the English Language The Random House Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged was the original name of a large American dictionary, first published in 1966, and recently renamed the Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary. reads, n. face. See chart on next page. The full-page chart is divided into two categories, Text Faces and Display Faces. All of the 13 text faces listed and illustrated are serif. All of the nine display faces are sans serif. |
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