Re: Legibility of 'Decorative' Typefaces
| July 25, 2020 12:51PM |
|
Eric Ross Wrote:
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> I know of a photograph of North Pacific Coast RR
> #4, a 4-4-0 named "Olema", which has the same
> font as the Sonoma EXCEPT for the red shadows
> being in the exact opposite quadrant (bottom left
> versus top right). I plan to do that font, and I will
> eventually make other versions with different sha-
> dow directions.
FWIW, Eric -
I distinctly remember my professor in a UCSB Extension web page design class telling us that legibility studies indicated that shadows to the left and below the text – as you are planning to create based on 'Olema' – lead the eye into the letters and are easier to read than shadows below and to the right, and MUCH easier to read than "shadows" above the text to either side. Of course Sonoma, Olema and Eureka were all built and painted long before such studies were undertaken, but their designers would probably rate a 'D', an 'A' and a 'B-', respectively — at least so far as legibility is concerned . . .
- Roosso
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/25/2020 01:44PM by Russo Loco.
-------------------------------------------------------
> I know of a photograph of North Pacific Coast RR
> #4, a 4-4-0 named "Olema", which has the same
> font as the Sonoma EXCEPT for the red shadows
> being in the exact opposite quadrant (bottom left
> versus top right). I plan to do that font, and I will
> eventually make other versions with different sha-
> dow directions.
FWIW, Eric -
I distinctly remember my professor in a UCSB Extension web page design class telling us that legibility studies indicated that shadows to the left and below the text – as you are planning to create based on 'Olema' – lead the eye into the letters and are easier to read than shadows below and to the right, and MUCH easier to read than "shadows" above the text to either side. Of course Sonoma, Olema and Eureka were all built and painted long before such studies were undertaken, but their designers would probably rate a 'D', an 'A' and a 'B-', respectively — at least so far as legibility is concerned . . .
- Roosso
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/25/2020 01:44PM by Russo Loco.
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