Non-Designer’s Type Book, The, Second Edition

Chapter 3. The Art of Legibility

Readability, as discussed in the previous chapter, refers to whether an extended amount of text—such as an article, book, or annual report—is easy to read.

Legibility refers to whether a short burst of text—such as a headline, catalog listing, or stop sign—is instantly recognizable.

There have been extensive studies on type to determine which factors influence different aspects of reading, such as reading speed, retention of information, recognition of letterforms, etc. Interestingly, these studies show that in our culture and in our era, serif typefaces are easier to read when there is a lot of text, but sans serif letterforms are more instantly recognizable when there is a small amount of text. Sans serif characters ...