Re: Favorite/Recommended Fonts

[Peter Martin <peterm -at- FOXBORO -dot- COM -dot- AU>]

At 11:43 6/04/99 -0700, Chuck Martin wrote:
>CASSIN Gilles wrote:
>>
>> Chuck Martin wrote:
>> <I learned that the reasoning behind this difference was because of what
>> <was used to teach children to read. Apparently, in the U.S., most books
>> <are printed in serif fonts, while in Europe, most books are printed in
>> <Sans serif fonts.
>>
>> Dunno which European bookshop you frequented. Was it that one with the
>> green librarian, which tentacled your book while typing the bill with
>> her antennas?
>>
>Actually, it was one of several things I learned in one of my Technical
>Communication classes, from an instructor (Tom Williams) who is quite
>knowledgeable about teh technical details of subjects such as fonts,
>readability, screen design, and so on.
>
>From one of that class' texts: "The typefaces we learned to read with
>are the ones we are used to and that we therefore find most congenial
>and comfortable. In the United States those happen to be the faces with
>serifs (Century, Primer, Times Roman, and so on). In Europe, sans serif
>is the rule rather than the exception."
> - Graphic Design for the Electronics Age, Jan V. White, ISBN:
>082302122X, p. 13
>
Can +anyone+ cite an example of European research that confirms the
suggestion that Europeans actually comprehend sans serif body text
better than serif body text ?    How else can the "practice effect"
be confirmed ?

And it's been a while since I was in Europe: can someone confirm that,
say, the majority of European newspapers use sans serif body font ?
Or is this an urban myth ?




--
Peter Martin, Contract Tech. Writer            peterm -at- foxboro -dot- com -dot- au
+61 2 9818 5094 (home)  0408 249 113 (mobile)  peterm -at- zeta -dot- org -dot- au

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