Re: Serif vs. sans serif? (Take Too Many)

["Dick Margulis" <margulis -at- mail -dot- fiam -dot- net>]

I demur from Sharon's recommendation. I think Shriver overstates the case for her conclusions about fonts, although in general I like the book, find it well designed, and think she says sensible things about font choice and usage.

I just don't think any of the "research" has been done particularly well, and therefore I don't think we can draw any conclusions from it. It is, as far as I can tell, pseudoscience, not real science. I say this because the number of variables involved in setting a passage of text is enormous. You cannot change a single variable (serif vs sans, for example), without changing half a dozen others, all of which affect readability. Understanding the interplay of these subtleties is what makes a typographer successful.

This is not a reducible problem. There is no formula, no algorithm, no acid test. Experience-based intuition, soft evidence, culture, tradition, and craft all come into play.

That's why there are as many young typographers as there are old programmers.

So my advice to all the young Turks (is it okay to say that these days?) in the techwr-l community who fancy themselves pretty handy with their fonts is to go ahead and try things but to listen also to the advice and counsel of some old hands. Don't see us as a bunch of useless old fossils and go running to the latest "research" for your answers. You've got decades to learn to do type well. Slow down and enjoy the learning.

Dick

 "Sharon Burton-Hardin" reminds us:

>See Karen Shriver's excellent and comprehensive book "Dynamics in Document
>Design" for a well referenced chapter on fonts - including history,
>legibility, readability, serif and san. She references all the research and
>you can follow up from there if you like.
>
>But the research has been done and available.
>


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