EXAMPLE 503
In good lettering, the descending strokes are as long as the ascending strokes. From Johnston
EXAMPLE 504
(A) How descenders are frequently cramped. (B) Compression of upper or lower ends of letters as found in “improved” Caslon Oldstyle
Legibility of Type-Faces
Type matter should be easy to read, and this end is attained not only in the designing of type-faces but in the manner of their use.
Many tests for legibility have been made in this country and in Europe, but none of them, so far as the writer knows, has considered the manner of printing the types and the character of the paper surface as factors in legibility, altho glossy paper has been condemned because of its reflection of light, and cream-white paper preferred to blue-white. There is shown as Example [463] a test made in the printing of the same type-faces on a hard-finished paper and on a soft-finished paper. The Caslon and Bodoni types are not only more legible on the soft-finished stock, but the character of the designs is brought out. The results of this demonstration should not be wondered at, as the original Caslon and Bodoni types were intended to be printed on soft-finished stock, and not on highly calendered coated paper.
Studies in legibility are presented in Example [508]. As there are many details that count in the production of good-looking typography, so there are seeming trifles which go to make typography easily read. In “A” there are groups set in Cheltenham Oldstyle and Cloister Oldstyle. As Cheltenham is narrower in form and closely set, it is more suitable for long, narrow pages or columns. Cloister, on the other hand, conforms better to wider pages and columns. In lighter types (B) Bodoni Book and Caslon Oldstyle are similarly compared. For further illustrations of this point see Examples [509] and [510].
One of the tests previously referred to proved Gothic (C) the most legible type-face. This unshaded, serifless type, which has long been popular on sales bills and for advertisements in some newspapers and trade publications, is not approved by those who believe there should also be character in type-faces, as it lacks the two essentials of typographic beauty—serifs and contrasting thickness of strokes. Then, again, it is not as legible in the mass as in single lines.
EXAMPLE 505
In the old-style Arabic numerals, five figures descended, two ascended and three did neither. The modern style is to have them of one hight