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John Posada wondered: <<I'm having a "discussion" with my manager over
some style conventions. First...body text must be Times New Roman.>>
There are worse choices. I know it's not a fashionable font, and that
there are more esthetic choices, but Times is eminently readable,
particularly at larger sizes. It's also an efficient way to fit lots of
text on the page without sacrificing legibility. Speaking of which:
<<With that said, how does anyone feel about going to 10pt for the body
text vs 12 point. I prefer 12 pt for readability (hey...I'm 51 tomorrow
and the eyeballs ain't what they used to be) and he prefers 10 pt for
it's layout aesthetics.>>
I've had this fight with graphic artists for years; since most of them
refuse to actually read the layouts, they seem to universally aim for
the smaller size unless strongly opposed. I'm with you on the
legibility issue, and find that Times is actually a nicely esthetic
font at 12 point--but somewhat fussy and cramped at 10 point. Have you
considered a compromise? 11 pt strikes a reasonable balance between
legibility and esthetics.
<<Does anyone know of any studies that address one over the other?>>
Don't trust any studies you find. Type is heavily multifactor when it
comes to legibility, and any study that controls these many factors
enough to be valid also constrains the context enough that the study
may not be valid for your particular audience or layout.
--Geoff Hart ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca
(try geoffhart -at- mac -dot- com if you don't get a reply)
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