OUGd504 - Designing the Publication - Typeface and fonts

There were a range of fonts that could be potentially used for the information in the publication, each with their different merits. Serif fonts are more legible as a body copy due to the serif helping readers guide their eyes across the lines of text, however it could make the design on the publication look dated and old fashioned. Sans serif fonts look more modern however they can be difficult to read at body copy level. These are the typefaces that were tested out for the publication:

Below are examples of each font used in the body copy of the introduction page for the publication.

Georgia:

Advantages - good legibility, somewhat modern for a serif typeface, used in the book 'How to be Parisian'. Would work at a smaller point size. 

Disadvantages - Quite dated and old fashioned.

Big Caslon:

Advantages - Serif creates easy legibility in body copy.

Disadvantages - Old Fashioned / very traditional. 

Andale Mono: 

Advantages: Unusual typeface, gives the publication a quirky retro typewriter feel.

Disadvantages: Detracts from the images, readability difficult in larger bodies of text, fairly illegible. 

Helvetica:

Advantages: Classic typeface, large x height, easy to read in smaller font size.

Disadvantages: Overused, common, could make the publication look a bit boring. 

Kohinoor Devangari:

Advantages: Less widely used than helvetica but similar appearance and not as wide. 

Disadvantages: Doesn't have serif so may be harder to read at small point size.

Oriya Sangam MN: 

Advantages: Modern appearance with large x height meaning it would be legible on smaller scale, modern.

The final typeface that was chosen to be used for the body copy of the publication was Oriya Sangam MN as it is a modern sans-serif typeface with a large x height making it legible at a smaller sizer when used in a body copy. As the publication is for a younger target audience of typically 15-35 year olds it means a smaller font size could be used for the publication. 

The text used for the body copy is 8pt. with 10pt spacing and the titles used are 11pt. Keeping the text small allows for the images to remain the centre of attention meaning even on the double spreads with text the image is still the main focal point. 

Jan Tshischold states in 'The form of the book' that point sizes for text should differ between the title size and the size of the body copy font, making them distinct from one another. However they should be no more that a few point sizes different. 

Using a sans serif font rather than serif keeps the publication modern and appeals to a younger demographic. 

The line widths for the body copy were kept between 50 - 60 characters as that is the optimum line length for reading. 

'The optimal line length for your body text is considered to be 50-60 characters per line, including spaces (“Typographie”, E. Ruder). ' http://baymard.com/blog/line-length-readability

Seeing as the type is quite small anyway it was crucial to make the text as legible as possible in other ways. Keeping the line lengths within these dimensions allowed the reader’s eyes to focus on the text and easily gauge where the lines began and ended.