Emily Ryan: Chapter 4 Reading Response

Chapter 4 immediately begins by saying how typographic legibility is misunderstood and neglected. I was glad when it went on to then define it as, “achieved by controlling the qualities and attributes inherent in typography that make type readable.” In order to read letters, they must be designed with clarity in mind. Letters must always have the same basic structure despite any differences in design. We distinguish different groups of letters by strokes that are vertical, curved, a combination of vertical and curved, or oblique. This chapter discusses how letters also interact with other letters when they form words, and this is important to take into consideration for smoothness and legibility. There are 2 important factors in reading and that is word shape and internal pattern, which help with word recognition. Lower case letters are more distinct than upper case letters. There needs to be the correct amount of kerning, or letter spacing, in order for reading to flow smoothly. We also need to understand the relationship between type size, line length, and interline spacing. Everything needs to be measured in a way that is not too small or too large, and not too spaced out or too close together. Next it is important to find a correct balance between the color of the text and the color of the surface you are putting it on. Lastly when designing it is important to know when you need to or do not need to use paragraph rules such as indentation. All of this is used and considered in making things more legible.