Legibility Implications of Embellished Display Typefaces

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articlepeer-review

Standard

Legibility Implications of Embellished Display Typefaces. / Beier, Sofie; Andersen, Katrine Sand; Starrfelt, Randi.

In: Visible Language, Vol. 51, No. 1, 27.04.2017, p. 112-133.

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articlepeer-review

Harvard

Beier, S, Andersen, KS & Starrfelt, R 2017, 'Legibility Implications of Embellished Display Typefaces', Visible Language, vol. 51, no. 1, pp. 112-133. <http://visiblelanguagejournal.com/issue/242/article/1612>

APA

Beier, S., Andersen, K. S., & Starrfelt, R. (2017). Legibility Implications of Embellished Display Typefaces. Visible Language, 51(1), 112-133. http://visiblelanguagejournal.com/issue/242/article/1612

Vancouver

Beier S, Andersen KS, Starrfelt R. Legibility Implications of Embellished Display Typefaces. Visible Language. 2017 Apr 27;51(1):112-133.

Author

Beier, Sofie ; Andersen, Katrine Sand ; Starrfelt, Randi. / Legibility Implications of Embellished Display Typefaces. In: Visible Language. 2017 ; Vol. 51, No. 1. pp. 112-133.

Bibtex

@article{0066cdbc3398412b98eb3387e6557c9e,
title = "Legibility Implications of Embellished Display Typefaces",
abstract = "By subjecting participants to brief exposure of single letters in the peripheral visual field, we investigated 1) hemispheric differences in reading of embellished display typefaces, and 2) the legibility difference between different kinds of embellished display typefaces. The test typefaces are designed for the purpose of controlling for the variables of swashes, stroke contrast and drop shadow.The results show that all fonts are processed more accurately in the right visual field (corresponding to initial processing in the left hemisphere), and this is mainly evident when exposure is very brief (Experiment 1). This is contrary to the expectation that embellished typefaces should have an advantage when presented to the right hemisphere /left hemifield. There was also a clear difference in overall performance between the different embellished typeface styles, suggesting that legibility is more affected by swashed features than by a reversed letter stroke, or by a drop shadow. When choosing between different styles of embellished display typefaces, it is therefore recommended to choose typefaces where the letter skeleton is not too complicated to decode.",
keywords = "Faculty of Social Sciences, legibility, readability, type design, fonts, perception, typeface style",
author = "Sofie Beier and Andersen, {Katrine Sand} and Randi Starrfelt",
year = "2017",
month = apr,
day = "27",
language = "English",
volume = "51",
pages = "112--133",
journal = "Visible Language",
issn = "0022-2224",
publisher = "Rhode Island School of Design * Graphic Design Department",
number = "1",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Legibility Implications of Embellished Display Typefaces

AU - Beier, Sofie

AU - Andersen, Katrine Sand

AU - Starrfelt, Randi

PY - 2017/4/27

Y1 - 2017/4/27

N2 - By subjecting participants to brief exposure of single letters in the peripheral visual field, we investigated 1) hemispheric differences in reading of embellished display typefaces, and 2) the legibility difference between different kinds of embellished display typefaces. The test typefaces are designed for the purpose of controlling for the variables of swashes, stroke contrast and drop shadow.The results show that all fonts are processed more accurately in the right visual field (corresponding to initial processing in the left hemisphere), and this is mainly evident when exposure is very brief (Experiment 1). This is contrary to the expectation that embellished typefaces should have an advantage when presented to the right hemisphere /left hemifield. There was also a clear difference in overall performance between the different embellished typeface styles, suggesting that legibility is more affected by swashed features than by a reversed letter stroke, or by a drop shadow. When choosing between different styles of embellished display typefaces, it is therefore recommended to choose typefaces where the letter skeleton is not too complicated to decode.

AB - By subjecting participants to brief exposure of single letters in the peripheral visual field, we investigated 1) hemispheric differences in reading of embellished display typefaces, and 2) the legibility difference between different kinds of embellished display typefaces. The test typefaces are designed for the purpose of controlling for the variables of swashes, stroke contrast and drop shadow.The results show that all fonts are processed more accurately in the right visual field (corresponding to initial processing in the left hemisphere), and this is mainly evident when exposure is very brief (Experiment 1). This is contrary to the expectation that embellished typefaces should have an advantage when presented to the right hemisphere /left hemifield. There was also a clear difference in overall performance between the different embellished typeface styles, suggesting that legibility is more affected by swashed features than by a reversed letter stroke, or by a drop shadow. When choosing between different styles of embellished display typefaces, it is therefore recommended to choose typefaces where the letter skeleton is not too complicated to decode.

KW - Faculty of Social Sciences

KW - legibility

KW - readability

KW - type design

KW - fonts

KW - perception

KW - typeface style

M3 - Journal article

VL - 51

SP - 112

EP - 133

JO - Visible Language

JF - Visible Language

SN - 0022-2224

IS - 1

ER -

ID: 176918268