Quote:
Originally Posted by DiapDealer
I must be missing some sort of font gene that everyone else has. Because unless it's Wingdings, or something similarly stupid, I just don't notice them all that much--print OR digital. I see big/small, bold, italic and regular (and monspace) typeface, but that's about it. When people start talking ascenders/descenders, kerning pairs, serif, etc... my eyes just glaze over. Props to those who jump in and wallow around with them and wrassle 'em into something pretty that my eyes can slide right past, but I just don't get it. It's always been the words I'm in it for, not the ink.
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But, sweetie:
That's exactly the point. Your eyes are
supposed to glide right over them, and never give it a moment's thought. Just like in print. If we screw up our job, and embed some hinky font that's hard on the eyes, while you wouldn't think about it--your eyes and brain would. You might feel that your eyes are tired, or even that you're bored--but it can be as simple as the layout person used the wrong font, and thus, there are fewer (or more) letters per line of text than there ought to be.
When you read lines of text (speaking of stuff that will make your eyes and brain glaze over...), each time your eyeballs flick back to the beginning of the next line, your brain gets a wee dose of some endorphin or chemical, or something. I forget exactly what it is. Anyway, it gets this wee jolt. If your make the text lines too long--say, 75-80 characters--you start to actually feel bored. Or, rather, your brain feels a way that you interpret as bored, or restless. If the line's too short, you start to feel antsy, or your eyes feel tired, because you've been jolting your poor wee brain a bit too often. Either of these scenarios, = bad. Why? Because naturally, you'll think that it's the fault of the book. You'll never think it's the fault of the print, right?
Part of the job of the layout person and the font selection has to do with getting that right.
The other part is ensuring that the font selection doesn't abrade the eyes, or alienate the reader. After all, Doug, would you want to read a novel in Comic Sans? Papyrus? I suspect you'd notice that, right?
So, while you think that you don't notice--the fact that you don't is proof that the wee, unheralded elves at the other end are doing their jobs.
:-)
Hitch