Essay Plan: To what extent does legibility and readability contribute to successful typography?

(YES- Legible, NO- Not legible)

Introduction

• What is typography?

Definitions put forward by Alan Fletcher and in ‘Letterform Collected’ and my own interpretation.

• What is the difference between legibility and readability?

There is often confusion over the terms ‘legibility’ and ‘readability’. Legibility refers to the typeform and how easy an individual character is to recognise when presented in a particular font. Readability accounts for both typeform and arrangement; how easy a text is read.

• How typography can be deemed not legible- foreground/background contrast, choice of typeface etc

Paragraph 1- Wayfinding

• Legible London (YES)

Legible London is a new pedestrian Wayfinding system to help people walk around London.

• Margaret Calvert- Redesigning of motorway road signs (YES)

• Cartlidge Levene- Redesigning of Selfridges signs- Cartlidge Levene used the Avant Garde typeface instead of the previously used Helvetica typeface. ‘Helvetica is highly legible and effective as a font for signage for the Selfridges retail environment but it didn’t have enough personality and individuality. (YES/NO)- Article in Creative Review Magazine Feb 08

• Which other companies have redesigned their signs? For more legibility or a more modern design?

Paragraph 2- Helvetica Typeface

• Helvetica is regarded as one of the most legible typefaces in history but is Helvetia as aesthetically pleasing as it used to be? Is the hype over?

Paragraph 3- Scrambled Text

• TFL scrambled typography posters (NO)

Posters using scrambled words to highlight the abuse of ticket officers in London stations. Did it work?

• Anton Studer (NO)

His posters for the film festivals in Sokolev are very visually pleasing but can be seen as unreadable and not legible. Does this mean bad typography? His posters can still attract an audience but will the viewer be bothered to try and read it?

• Cambridge University Research (NO)

"According to a research at Cambridge University, it doesn’t matter in what order the letters in a word are, the only important thing is that the first and last letter be at the right place. The rest can be a total mess and you can still read it without problem. This is because the human mind does not read every letter by itself, but the word as a whole."

Paragraph 4- Use of handwriting

• Use of child-like handwriting in children’s charities (Think!) – Does it still work or is it now just a cliché? (YES/NO)

• Is handwriting typography legible enough to be used in advertising or is it purely for visual pleasure? (YES/NO)

Conclusion

• Typography in information design has to be legible

• Does Typography in advertising rely more on design than legibility?

Preliminary Bibliography

TFL Website

NSPCC Website

Think! Road Safety Website

‘Type and Typography’ by Phil Baines and Andrew Haslam

‘The Art of Looking Sideways’ by Alan Fletcher

Grafik Magazines

Creative Review Magazines

‘Hand Job’ by Michael Perry

Letterform Collected

Anton Studer Typography

I came across this work by Typogaphic Designer Anton Studer, from Zurich, in Grafik Magazine Issue 176.   

The typography in this poster for a film festival in Sokolev isn’t very legible due to the coloured circles (I think these are from a hole-punch) but does this necessarily mean bad typography? I think not. A go passer will glance at the interesting design and then stop to try and read the text, making the information stick into the viewers mind resulting in successful advertising!

Essay idea: To what extent does legibility contribute to successful typography?

This design reminds me of the posters that were spread around the London Underground about a year ago that also featured scrambled text, highlighting the abuse of ticket officers in stations. Even though the text is jumbled up, we are still able to read what the text says.

"Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a total mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe."

Typography- It's all around us

So I’ve created a new blog dedicated to looking at typography; typefaces, typography applications, typographers and typographic approaches. People who aren’t involved in the design world might find it odd that I’m devoting an entire blog space on the art of letterform, so I’ll start this blog by trying to define what Typography actually means, with the help of ‘Letterform Collected’, a book included in a recent issue of Grafik Magazine.

 

‘Most people probably only have the vaguest notion about what the word ‘typography’ actually means, but of course it’s all around us’. Everyone who picks up a pen, taps into a keyboard or even draws letters in the sand is making a typographic decision- if not about Arial or Times, bold or italic, then about upper- or lowercase at the very least.

It often surprises people to discover that some people make a living from designing letterforms, but anyone who spent time in the company of a typeface designer will soon realise that they are among the most passionate, rigorous and committed group of people that you could hope to meet. Typeface designers are the unsung heroes of the design world. The attention to detail required to create the perfect curve is mind-blowing, but not something you’d be aware of when looking at the resulting book, piece of signage, poster etc as a whole’.

Hopefully I will be able to come up with my own interpretation of what Typography actually is very soon! 

Essay idea: What does Typography actually mean?