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PART VIII
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14. Increase line spacing to improve readability in body text.
Line spacing, also called “leading,” because printers used to insert thin strips of lead between lines of type to add space, is very important not only for readability but also for appearance. When setting text for continuous reading (this does not necessarily apply to headline or display text) words should be set close to each other, about as far apart as the width of the letter ‘i’. Of course, you don’t really have to worry about this because it’s accomplished automatically by your word processing or page layout software. Line spacing, measured from baseline to baseline, needs to be significantly greater than this, and is something you need to worry about for the simple reason that the default settings of most word processors and page layout programs is rarely satsifactory.
 As a general rule, the amount of space between lines, expressed as a percentage of point size, should be no less than 120%. For example, if your text is 10-point, you should consider a line spacing setting of at least 12 points. If a typical line contains more than about 12 words, however, a leading value of 120% may not be enough. In other words, leading should be increased proportionally as line length increases.
The leading you choose depends on the typeface, but generally speaking, there are no text faces that look bad with more leading, although decreasing the leading can make just about any font look bad as a text font. As a display font, such as in headlines for example, decreased leading, even negative leading, may be appropriate.
Most Oldstyle designs, typefaces such as Bembo, Caslon, Garamond, and Adobe Minion, for example, do not require leading beyond the 120% mentioned above. Transitional designs such as Baskerville and Times Roman require a bit more, and Moderns such as Bodoni and Walbaum require even more still. Again, exact amounts will depend on point size and line length, but keep this general knowledge in mind as you use these typefaces. Quite often people will come to me for advice on a document, telling me that something is not quite right about it, but that they don’t know what that something is. In just about every case it comes down to two problems: their line length is too long, and the leading is too little. Decreasing the former and increasing the latter – or a combination of both – improves the appearance and transforms the “not quite right” into the “pretty neat.” Font choice and justification options are almost always secondary concerns to leading and line width.
If you are using sans serif typefaces for body text, leading needs to be increased even more, sometimes to as much as 135–140% of point size. For example, a 10-point sans serif font would probably look best with line spacing set somewhere between 13 and 14 points.
Unlike body text where a baseline leading of 120% of the point size is suggested, for headlines I generally begin with solid leading, and increase or decrease it from there. Solid leading means that the line spacing is equivalent to the point size. If my headline is 24 points, for example, a solid leading would also be 24 points.
Many programs have a leading setting of “Auto,” which is usually about 120% of the point size, but I recommend setting the leading to a fixed amount. If I’m using 10 point text, for example, I set the leading to 12 points even though choosing the “Auto” leading option might very well do this anyway. Then if I need to change the size of a character or word, the leading won’t be automatically adjusted; it will remain at 12 points.
Have you ever seen fonts indicated as “Garamond 10/12,” for example, or “Futura 12/15”? The first number is the point size, the second is the leading. This is the standard notation when specifying type. You may sometimes see line length included as well, generally in the form “Fontname 10/12 x 20.” Line length – the third number – is given in picas, not points. In this case, 20 picas. (One pica equals 12 points.)
15. Sans serif typefaces are often less legible than serif typefaces.
When setting body text (and by that I mean text that is meant to be read continuously) serif typefaces are naturally better suited than sans serif typefaces. Serifs are the small finishing strokes on the arms and stems of letters, and serve to form a link between letters. This link is important because when we read, our mind (in most western cultures anyway) is trained to recognize the shapes of words rather than reading letter by letter.
All of the serif text faces are appropriate for continuous reading. Many sans serif typefaces are as well. Consider sans serif fonts such as Gill Sans, Goudy Sans, and Optima for setting text meant for continuous reading. This isn’t to say that you shouldn’t use other sans serif fonts for body text, but generally speaking, avoid setting long passages of text in geometric sans serif typefaces such as Futura, for example, which is better suited for headlines, captions, and other short chunks.
When designing forms such as time sheets, invoices, expense reports and order forms, consider using sans serif typefaces rather than serifs. Sans serifs naturally look better when aligned to vertical and horizontal lines, which are obviously very common in forms. For best results, use loosely spaced All Caps set at a small size (8 points and below). Typefaces such as Futura and Franklin Gothic are particularly well-suited to designing forms.
16. You can probably set body text to a point size smaller than you think.
Type size for body text generally ranges from 9 to 14 points. Keep in mind that text set too small can be difficult to read in large quantities. On the other hand, text set too large might appear trivial, or meant for children, à la Dick and Jane books. If you’re new to the world of type and document design, you can probably set text a bit smaller than your initial choice. A point size of 12 is probably the most common size, and on the screen it may even look rather petite, but when you print it, chances are it will appear larger than you thought. I recommend starting with 10-point text, then increase or decrease it a point or half-point as necessary. To my eyes, 12-point type looks absolutely huge, and this is probably the largest point size I would use for setting body text.
If your documents are intended primarily for on-screen display, as opposed to printed output, 12-point text is a good minimum. Of course, this depends on the typeface and whether or not it has legible bitmaps for small point sizes. Typefaces like Geneva on the Macintosh, and MS Sans in Microsoft Windows, are quite attractive and readable at 9 points (okay, maybe not attractive), but a typeface such as Times Roman will be difficult to read on-screen below 10 points. |
