Quote:
Originally Posted by skb
I can't help feeling that in a scene at a pub with lots of people talking, the page would look like a ransom note.
I also think that even when the case wasn't extreme, all fonts aren't created equal, as far as readability goes. Finding a bunch of fonts that were easily readable but sufficiently different from each other would be tricky.
|
I would add that of late, I've seen some closed-captioning on streaming video that uses a different
color for each speaker, although not, t
hank the Gods, different typefaces. I would say that in that specific environment, alone, the different colors make sense, only because it's hard enough to read as fast as people speak, in excited utterances, and for those, it's helpful.
@robintes:
HOWEVER, as a voracious lifetime reader and speaking as a professional in the book production biz, both print and ebooks, please, Mother of God, don't use different typefaces for different speakers.
How in the name of Odin will using, say, Minion instead of Helvetica address the myriad instances of emphasis, as shown in the prior post? Using Face A, instead of Face B, won't solve the "which word" emphasis issue. That, in fact,
is for the writer's skill to address, not typography tricks.
As an ebook formatter, I can say with surety that trying to use different typefaces to indicate different speakers, will be
disastrous. Not for the reasons you think; (although I love Catlady's imagery of
visual cacophony), but because the reader can, 9x out of 10, override your choices and read the entire kit and caboodle in a single font.
Hell, the reader doesn't even have to do that
deliberately; on the Kindle Paperwhite family of devices (PPW, Voyage, Oasis, etc.), when the reader does
not actively choose to use "Publisher Font," the fonts are simply overridden. All of them. Accent fonts, fleurons, chapter head fonts, all. Every single stinkin' face, obliterated. (
Not meaning face alterations, like italic, bold; just the main typeface choices by the book designer.)
Thus, if, as a writer, you were to rely upon this typography to convey meaning, to your reader, to tell them who was speaking--what would be the result of this
visual deafness, all of a sudden? (h/t to Catlady).
I assume you see my point.
Hitch