Serif & sans serif fonts? (take II)

[Geoff Hart <ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca>]

Yves JEAUROND noted: <<Robert Bringhurst has sprinkled good thoughts  
about using fonts online and in print, in his magnum opus: _The  
Elements of Typographical Style_ (Hartley & Marks). He explains in  
much detail the reasons for serifs, and the various hybrids other  
than serif/non-serif. For a quicker, practical survey, there's always  
the good ol' _Non-Designer's Design Book_ by Robin Williams (Peachpit  
Press).>>

I haven't read Bringhurst in too many years to comment knowledgeably  
on his book (indeed, it may even have been a different book with a  
similar name that I read), but I can say that when I read Williams,  
my strong reaction was that here's someone who (a) didn't follow her  
own typographical advice and produced a low-legibility book as a  
result ("the Mac/PC is not a typewriter") and (b) who simply parroted  
back longstanding design dogma without any evidence other than  
tradition to support her advice.

I'm emphatically _not_ saying that either is wrong. But if you want  
more than just opinion, look for someone like Schriver who has  
actually intensively reviewed modern research to provide facts and  
caveats, not just personal opinion.


----------------------------------------------------
-- Geoff Hart
ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca / geoffhart -at- mac -dot- com
www.geoff-hart.com
--------------------------------------------------
***Now available***  _Effective onscreen editing_
(http://www.geoff-hart.com/home/onscreen-book.htm)


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