atw: Re: Tell the U.S. Marines to Getz Tuft

Peter Martin:

> Every time this topic comes up, (as it does regularly) I run a pile of Google 
> and other
> searches looking for something that updates Wheildon.   I've yet to find 
> anything 
> that approaches his work.   But <sigh>  here goes again...    Anyone got an 
> alternative
> yet ? 

Not me. In fact, even Karen Schriver (_Dynamics in Document Design_, Wiley, 
1997) relies chiefly on readers' aesthetic preferences. She does indicate that 
serif body text "may" be more "readable", but -- quite legitimately -- suggests 
that cultural and other factors might be at work. I've often wondered whether 
the typography of the books children use while learning to read might influence 
the outcome.

David Whitbread (_The Design Manual_, UNSW Press, 2001) suggests that 
serif/sans-serif is the wrong question -- different typefaces of different 
styles excel at different applications.

Coincidentally, I'll be using passages on precisely this issue from precisely 
these books (and others) as illustrations in my presentation at the ASTC (NSW) 
conference on Friday.

- Michael Lewis




Michael Lewis
------------------------
Department of Linguistics
Macquarie University

Tel (02) 9850 7856
mailto:michael.lewis@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
------------------------

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