The legibility of letters and words

Sofie Beier
ATypI 2016 • Warsaw, Poland
Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw ASP

The saying made famous by Mathew Carter that "type is a beautiful group of letters, not a group of beautiful letters”, highlights the fact that although a typeface consists of a number of letters it is when the letters are assembled in a word that they become type. However, research indicates that what makes letters legible in isolation is not necessarily the same as what makes them legible in words. Is it possible to create a typeface where both letters and words have a high level of legibility or are those factors so different that they cannot be combined? Through a literature review on relevant experimental investigations, I will in this talk present examples of when the legibility findings on letters and words correlate and when they differ.

[awelotta]

Interesting. I recently installed Atkinson's Hyperlegible but it doesn't have very open counters. It has some of the serifs that distinguish stuff like with the i.

I hadn't thought about crowding in the peripheral vision and stuff. I like the nuance of this talk.

[jachymmichal]

Just when I thought I know all there is about text legibility…
Very good lecture, learned a lot, thanks.

[krakatoom]

Thank you for this great Shorts insight. Best Gaudenz