On Headlines:
Wheildon has a lot to say about headlines, and well he should. Just as the job of an envelope (in direct mail) is to get opened, the headline's job is to get the reader into the body copy. That, of course, is where the heart of the message is communicated. It doesn't matter whether you're producing an email, a brochure, a Web page -- you want your headline to be easy to read and to communicate quickly. Check out some of Wheildon's key research findings . . .
1. "Headlines set in capital letters are significantly less legible than those set in lower case."
2. "The darker the headline, the greater the comprehension level. Black headlines are well understood by nearly four times as many readers as brightly colored headlines."
3. "Slightly condensing headline type makes it easier to read. Settings between 70 per cent and 90 per cent of natural width appear to be optimal."
4. "Using periods at the end of headlines may have a detrimental effect on readers' comprehension."
On Body Type:
A headline may be eight or nine words long, but body copy can run on and on. This means that readablity is an extremely important issue. People just won't stick with you and keep reading if your art director or graphic designer makes things difficult. Here are a few more of Colin Wheildon's findings that make excellent sense . . .
5. "Body type must be set in serif type if the designer intends it to be read and understood. More than five times as many readers are likely to show good comprehension when a serif body type is used instead of a sans serif body type."
6. "Text must be printed in black. Even copy set in deep colors is substantially more difficult for readers to understand. Seven times as many participants in the study demonstrated good comprehension when text was black as opposed to either muted or high intensity colors."
7. "Black text printed on light tint has high comprehensibility."
8. "Text set in capitals is difficult to read."
Wheildon has a lot to say about headlines, and well he should. Just as the job of an envelope (in direct mail) is to get opened, the headline's job is to get the reader into the body copy. That, of course, is where the heart of the message is communicated. It doesn't matter whether you're producing an email, a brochure, a Web page -- you want your headline to be easy to read and to communicate quickly. Check out some of Wheildon's key research findings . . .
1. "Headlines set in capital letters are significantly less legible than those set in lower case."
2. "The darker the headline, the greater the comprehension level. Black headlines are well understood by nearly four times as many readers as brightly colored headlines."
3. "Slightly condensing headline type makes it easier to read. Settings between 70 per cent and 90 per cent of natural width appear to be optimal."
4. "Using periods at the end of headlines may have a detrimental effect on readers' comprehension."
On Body Type:
A headline may be eight or nine words long, but body copy can run on and on. This means that readablity is an extremely important issue. People just won't stick with you and keep reading if your art director or graphic designer makes things difficult. Here are a few more of Colin Wheildon's findings that make excellent sense . . .
5. "Body type must be set in serif type if the designer intends it to be read and understood. More than five times as many readers are likely to show good comprehension when a serif body type is used instead of a sans serif body type."
6. "Text must be printed in black. Even copy set in deep colors is substantially more difficult for readers to understand. Seven times as many participants in the study demonstrated good comprehension when text was black as opposed to either muted or high intensity colors."
7. "Black text printed on light tint has high comprehensibility."
8. "Text set in capitals is difficult to read."
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2 comments:
Normally I don't bother commenting on blog entries that I disagree with as much as I do this one. But condensing fonts is such bad practice I just had to make a comment.
You should never condense a font. You should use a font designed to be condensed. There is a big difference.
I also do not agree that condensed fonts are more readable. The design of a font and how it is used is what makes a font readable. Fonts are designed to be used in for different things, there are body copy fonts, and headline fonts, and neither of them look good when you take the font and squeeze it.
Good typography means using a good font as it was designed and adjusting the spacing and leading to fit the needs of your publication.
Kenton Smith
Your Art Director
Designer for 25 years.
Thanks for weighing in on this Kenton. I have never condensed fonts myself, so I don't have much to add to that discussion. But my own experience and intuition tell me that he's right about the black text and serif fonts. Those tips are the main reason why I posted Wheildon's ideas. He certainly seems to have done his research. But I encourage every designer/marketer to judge for him or herself. In the meantime, I'll stick to copywriting and let the designers duke this one out ;-)
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