Chanpory Rith
Sep 21, 2006
Imagine yourself picking a typeface for your next resumé, book, newsletter, or other text-heavy project. With the dizzying array of typefaces in the world, how do you choose when you simply want one that’s clear and readable? Thankfully, Before & After magazine’s short tutorial, What’s the Right Typeface for Text?, can help you make this often paralyzing choice.
If you’re not a professional designer and don’t know the difference between x-heights and X-men, don’t worry. The guide has loads of pictures and clear explanations, starting with one easy rule of thumb:
For text that’s smooth, clear and readable, the operative is medium.
Without being overly technical, the guide continues by showing what “medium” means to a typeface’s counter, x-height, stroke width variation, and height-to-width ratio. For more, download the free guide here.
5 Comments
Arthur Goranga
7:29 am
In Brazil there’s good guys talking about types.
http://www.elesbaoeharoldinho.com/
They say “Penso logo tipo”, something like: “I think, therefore I type”. A parody with “I think, therefore I am”.
oskar
8:14 am
Great stuff. I have been looking for this kind of information. And its pretty to look at. Keep it up!
Nate
9:50 pm
Good writeup. Do you have any links or articles about choosing typeface for web specifically?
Nabeel
8:14 pm
it’s not just about the type face .. but color also matters .. i usually use font-family verdana, arial and all .. but the key is to have a dark gray color instead of black .. the text looks soo much better (given the site has a white background)
Nabeel http://nabeelzeeshan.blogspot.com
balootisme
6:55 am
i’d found this post from problogger.net.
i found your guide is useful.
thanks anyway.