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Subject:Line Length and Readability From:"George F. Hayhoe" <george -at- GHAYHOE -dot- COM> Date:Thu, 28 Jan 1999 09:30:51 -0500
Sarah Wigser asked about optimal line length.
In the February issue of _Technical Communication_
(scheduled to mail tomorrow), you'll find an article by
Karel van der Waarde called "Typographic Dimensions and
Conventional Wisdom: A Discrepancy?" On the basis of his
comparison of actual practice to the guidelines suggested by
numerous typographic experts, van der Waarde finds that
x-height, line length, and line spacing in brochures,
scientific journals, and novels do not reflect those
guidelines. Instead, he demonstrates, the boundaries for
x-height, line length and line spacing differ by genre, and
speculates that preferences within these boundaries might be
based on conventional wisdom.
It's an interesting article, a good example of the relevance
of the best empirical research to the needs of
practitioners.
