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Subject:Re: Usability: Serif and Sans-Serif font faces? From:Bruce Byfield <bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Fri, 14 May 2004 15:50:33 -0700
Bonnie Granat wrote:
> >>>It is the serifs themselves that aids reading by guiding the eye
> >>>almost subliminally to the next letter and acting almost as a frame
> >>>(like a picture frame) for a letter.
To add to Dick's comment:
While this sounds like a plausible comment, the idea that there's a frame for
letters applies to sans serifs, too. All fonts, serif or sans serifs, sit on a
base-line. With a handful of exceptions, all have uniform lengths for the
height of ascenders or depth of descenders, as well as the height of capital
letters. If you look a line analytically, you'll observe that this uniformity
provides a frame regardless of whether the font has serifs or not. It is
perhaps more noticeable with a serif font, but it's there with sans serif
fonts, too.
--
Bruce Byfield bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com 604-421.7177
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