Text and Display

The pages of a book and the type under a headline are usually composed of type designed for easy reading called TEXT TYPE or BODY COPY.

When designing lines of text, the styles and size of the type , the length of the lines, and spacing of the letters and words, and between the lines must be determined. Text type is usually 14 points or smaller.

The type used for headlines in ads and headings on pages of a book is called DISPLAY. These types are larger and can be bolder and more decorative than text type.

A much greater number of type faces have been designed for display than for the text. Display types are usually 14 points or larger sometimes much larger.

DESIGN OF TEXT

When designing text, the following guidelines will help make your text most readable.

Caps vs. Lowercase: Large areas of text set in all caps take more time to read than text text set in lowercase.

Roman vs. Italic: Readers prefer roman to italic type in large areas.
It is better to save italics for emphasis.

Serif vs. Sans Serif: Serif faces are less tiring to the eye, but sanserif or square serifs acceptable if copy is not too long.

Black on White vs. White on Black: Type printed in reverse slows reading considerably. Of course reading one or two words on a billboards is different from reading a full page advertisement in a magazine. One should avoid thin-line styles for reverse
printing.

Bold vs. Regular: Although bold type can be very effective when used for emphasis or in small quantities, the heavy strokes of the letters cause the counters and the white spaces between the letters to fill in, and it becomes very hard to read when it is used in large quantities.

Margins: Margins of white space around your copy do not affect the speed of reading text, but surrounding text with spaces is good, because it invites reading.

Paper: Dull coated or antique finish on paper is better than glossy coated paper, which may interfere with reading. Also old style text styles look better on a antique- finished paper, where as modern styles are on glossy coated paper.

Length of line: Very long very short text lines are hard to read. Sixty to seventy characters, or seven to ten words, per line are ideal
for books.


Size of Type: When a very small type is required, it is better to choose one with a large x-height.

Leading:

The space between lines of type is called leading.
Word spacing should never be greater than leading. Just when to use leading, and how much depends on a number of factors:
. Letters wit large x-heights require more leading than the ones with small x-height.
. Letters with strong vertical stress also need more leading ( like Bodoni).
. Sans Serif faces also require more leading (like Helvetica).
. Size of typeface is another factor that affects the amount of leading.
. Length of the line, the longer the line, the more leading is necessary.
.Bold type needs more leading.

Spacing: A narrow text type needs less word space, where as a wide type needs more
word space.

Paragraphs: Keeping paragraphs short, especially the first one improves legibility. Paragraph of varied lengths sustain a reader’s interest.

Brackets and Parenthesis: Brackets and Parenthesis were designed to center on
lowercase letters. They will have to be repositioned if used with caps.

Hyphenating: One should avoid having more than two end-of-line hyphens in a row.
Hyphenating words should be avoided.



Paragraph spacing:

• To mark the beginning of paragraphs either use line spacing (i.e. one blank line between each paragraph), or, indent.

• The indent measurement is up to the designer’s decision. Conventionally, it can be suggested to use 1em. Another conventional measurement for the indent is 1 lead. I.e. If the leading of the text is 14pts. the indent width can be also 14pts.

• An ‘Em’ is a slippery measurement. It equals to the point size of the text. E.g. If the body text is 12pts., then the ‘em distance’ for that page is also 12pts.
Em depends on the text size.

• As a rule, indent is not used in the first paragraph!