Type Workshop 3

As an optional task, we were asked to fit a proverb in a central space, by 'breaking' the sentence in the right place and using different weights, sizes and orientation. I began by simply writing the proverb out and breaking the sentence in its natural pause when read aloud.

In today's task, we are required to work with a body of text as opposed to a word or sentence. We were first asked to fit a body of text into one column (A4). I altered the point size to 11 and the leading to 12.5.

I looked at decreasing the point size by 1 to see how this would look (without realising what the next task would be). The second column is 10pt on 13.9pt.

The next task was to duplicate the body of text over the next 3 columns and decrease the point size by 1 each time. Again, this needed to fit the column exactly. The point size and leading were as followed:

1) 11/12.5pt

2) 10/13.9pt

3) 9/15.6pt

4) 8/17.7pt

This was then printed out and we were asked to choose which we liked best in terms of legibility, readability etc. I originally chose the third column due to its aesthetics but when printed, the second column seemed the most effective.

We then opened a 10 column document and asked to fit the second body of text (above) into the first column. This was then duplicated across the page with the width progressively increasing by 1 column width. The first occupies 1 column, the second, 2 and so on. 

The first body of text is hard to read due to the pauses in speech it creates when read aloud - this is due to each line consisting of just 2 or 3 words. The last body of text is also harder to read as your eyes are required to span across a larger space. Collectively, we decided the 3rd column was the easiest to read due to its fluidity when spoken out loud.

1st - N/A

2nd - Newspaper - Smaller articles

3rd - Magazine

4th - N/A

5-6 words per line (on average, 36 characters) is the absolute minimum; any less will hinder the readability. The maximum is 11-12 characters (on average, 72 characters). A novel tends to be around 11 words a line - 8 or 9pt. A book is defined by the reading.

A few small tasks where we were required to alter the font, weight and alignment using the second body of text from the earlier task. I used Arial, Georgia, Helvetica and Gill Sans for the first task, Helvetica for the second (due to the array of weights) and Arial for the change in alignment - ragged right/left align, justified, ragged left and centered. 

Part 2 - Paragraphs

Fitting a body of text (with pargraphs) into one column - 9/11.38pt

If a larger point size is required, the lines between paragraphs can be removed to create more space. Indents are used when there is no indication to paragraph breaks. Although millimetres are used as the indent units, 3 characters is the standard indent size. Anything over 3 characters may lead to widows. Never use an indent and a line space.

With a larger body of text, we were required to fit an A4 page with the content without any specifications. I initially started with a 2 column layout but noticed the text span a large amount of space therefore hindering the readability. I used a 3 column layout, with Lucida Grande at 9pt with a 14pt leading. I altered the gutters and margins, also.

The colour of the page (or density/tonal values) affects the way we read a body of text. An increase in leading, the font we choose and the weight.

The leading should be at least 2 pts larger.

Lucida Grande - 8/12.5pt