Balancing typeface economy and legibility
Practical techniques for the type designer
Comparing Ionic and Excelsior, two newspaper faces designed for legibility. Linotype news faces (type specimen) (London: Linotype & Machinery Ltd.)
Typeface legibility and economy—are they adversaries or can they work together? Their relationship is filled with tension. Common wisdom says that efforts to increase legibility can reduce the amount of text on a page, whereas techniques used for efficient use of space can jeopardize legibility. Is this the real situation?
This brief essay looks at some of the variables that affect legibility, particularly those under the control of the type designer. From this foundation, it continues with a summary of techniques used in the design of economical typefaces throughout type history and evaluates their impact on legibility. The focus is primarily on Latin text types, even though others (sans-serif, blackletter) can be quite compact and legible in their own right. Extreme experiments in legibility or economy are not covered as they have little practical value.
Note that this essay is from 2001 and does not cover discoveries of the past two decades. However it does highlight some key typefaces that balance the two goals.
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