Questions about look and feel.

[Syed.Hosain at aeris.net]

Thanks for the comments and the book reference, Mike! I will get a copy
...

Z

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Mike Wickham [mailto:mewickham at compuserve.com]
> Sent: Thursday, May 08, 2008 3:10 PM
> To: Syed Zaeem Hosain (Syed.Hosain at aeris.net);
framers at lists.frameusers.com
> Subject: Re: Questions about look and feel.
> 
> > 2.  Do people think that a Sans Serif font improves legibility for
body
> > text?
> 
> Using a sans serif font for body text greatly reduces reader
comprehension.
> Obtain a copy of Colin Wheildon's _Type and Layout: Are You
Communicating or
> Just Making Pretty Shapes?_ The book contains actual studies showing
the
> effects on readability and comprehension of serif vs. sans serif
fonts,
> color type, bold and italic type, justified paragraphs, etc. It's a
> fantastic book:
> 
>
http://www.amazon.com/Type-Layout-Communicating-Making-Pretty/dp/1875750
223
> 
> Book designers really need to pay attention to these kinds of things.
I'm
> seeing more and more books with sans serif body type that might be
good for
> a Web page, but not for a book. Recently, I ordered a book that was on
a
> unique topic in my field. I awaited it excitedly. At first glance upon
> arrival, it struck me how pretty the book was, which excited me more.
Then I
> tried to read it. I couldn't! My eyes just could not stay trained on
the
> lines for long.
> 
> The book broke every rule. It had tiny type, sans serif body text,
headings
> with no capitalization, headings in every color of the rainbow,
including
> some that were yellow and nearly invisible on the pages. All recto
pages
> have color backgrounds. Do you know how hard it is to read tiny, thin,
black
> type on a blue page? Anyway, the book was clearly a designer's dream,
but
> it's a reader's nightmare. I still haven't read more than a few
paragraph's
> from it.
> 
> Mike Wickham
>