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As I'm on digest, this posting could be a little late. Sorry for that.
As an European, having practiced (user manual) book design, DTP and technical writing for many years, I feel the need to add my 2 Eurocents.
I've learned most of my book design from real "lead" printers who loved to do bookdesign as a form of art and I've had the opportunity to work with several designers over the years. And boy have I learned!
Most books I see in bookshops in Europe are typesetted in serif. Most web- & other screen-publishing that is done, is formatted in sans-serif.
Also, I did choose serif most of the time for book design as it reads more easely when printed on paper. At the other hand, web- & screen- publishing is done in sans serif because most monitors are simply not "good" enough to display serif (especially in small point sizes).
Of course, an existing house style can set other rules (and I've worked with one that ordered me to use Helvetica).
Designing a good lay out (use of space on each page - don't be afraid of non-used space to give the eye some rest), choice of a good point size, a good line length and good line spacing in combination with the choosen font and combined with the consistent use of (almost classical) typographic rules gives good readability. This has proven to be true for paper based publishing AND for web- or screen-publishing.
Ref in English: 1) Hugh Williamsom - Methods of Book Design - Yale University Press 1983 - ISBN 0-300-02663-3
2) JoAnn T. Hackos & Dawn M. Stevens - Standards for online communication - Wiley Computer Publishing 1997 - ISBN 0-471-15695-7
Ref in Dutch: Huib van Krimpen - Boek over het maken van boeken - Gaade uitgevers 1986 - ISBN 90-6017-5215
I hope this is of any help.
Ivo Kwanten, Sr. Technical Writer
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RAET Personnel Systems - Dutch market leader in payroll
services & human resource management systems
Getronics Group - http://www.getronics.com
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*Ich weiss nicht ob es besser wird, wenn es anders wird
aber es muss anders werden, wenn es besser werden soll*
