Re: Font Selection Methodology
I can pick a font in 10 seconds and produce serviceable, usable, and clear,
though perhaps not elegant, documents. Or I can spend days agonizing over
getting the font choice absolutely perfect, and end up not having time to
make a last editing pass or two at troublesome, complicated passages,
resulting in an unhelpful document with beautiful production values.
Arlen,
This is begging the issue. I doubt if you (or anyone) can produce a document with beautiful production values in 10 seconds as you claim here. Leaving that red-herring aside...
What you can do in ten seconds for mere rock-bottom functionality if increased to produce a smoother-reading less confusing document is a valid obsession.
Example: I have just received a book where the margins have been set so that the centre of the booklet (the gutter) isn't wide enough and the words in the closest columns are too close to the binding to read.
Example: Often, I have read the same line of copy twice because the line-spacing was too small for the line length. Hasn't this happened to you, too? How did you enjoy the book at that point?
Example: I have a book where sub-headings are so heavy in contrast to the text that it breaks up the page to the extent that some have not completed a procedure because they thought that a continuation was a separate section.
All these issues involve typography. There are many more.
You are selling the role of typography short. It isn't knowing what the history of a typeface is. It is being aware of all the variations and having the wherewithal to make an informed choice about the look of the beast.
Methinks your knowlege of typography is shallow. Mine was until I saw how someone who knew what they were doing redid my work. The transformation was stunning. I became a believer and I started looking into the issue and learned enough to value the contribution.
Bruce, others, and I are taking exception with your position that if you don't have the inclination to search for perfection it isn't necessary to try to improve the readability/usability of the document. We do think that time should be taken to improve both phrasing and form, where and when possible. The two go hand-in-hand. In fact, it is both what you do and how you do it. Your, and others, ignorring of the partnership does a disservice to the resulting document.
When well-done, the text should be invisible. If you are aware of the typographic elements in play, the typographer who composed the document has failed. The supreme challenge would be to complete a text on typography without the reader being aware of the text. It is similar to watching a movie and being aware of the scene changes and the cuts. Bad assembly interferes with the content. Even if the story was well-written, a movie will go to pieces without good cutting.
I'm having fun,
s
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Re: Font Selection Methodology: From: Arlen . P . Walker
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