Which font is best for fast reading? (with the suggestion of Collocation)

What kinds of fonts are both easy to recognize and readable? How to match the Chinese and English fonts to ensure smooth reading? Today, we share a professional font with popular science, there are graphs and analysis, as well as the intimate Chinese and English font collocation suggestions >>>

Acalin: This problem involves two concepts: legibility (legibility) and readability (readability).

Legibility is the difficulty of identifying a single character, which is the "ease of identification".

Readability is the identification of the whole word, the whole sentence, the whole text of the difficulty, that is, in a large paragraph of text to the reader, the reader "reading up the speed and pace."

(The above references are from Wikipedia)

In fact, we can see in the newspapers and magazines or on the screen is the "word" font, Chinese or Western language, all have a relatively high legibility, otherwise most people will not understand at all.

The fonts that are not easy to recognize are often referred to as "Gothic curvier" and some of the most bizarre styles in western languages.

So it's not a great thing to say, but it's just the word legibility, and it's often said that a font can make a deep impression at the same time that it is easy to recognize.

And readability is not every font can be done, once you can do it, it must have specific functionality: for example, the body of newspapers and magazines, some need to quickly read the guide card.

The following recommendations are recommended for the readability of some of the Western fonts and Chinese fonts related to personal advice.

Please note that these fonts are for introduction and appreciation only, and you need a commercial person to contact the relevant copyright party for authorization.

One, body font

　　Garamond Series

After the introduction of metal-type printing in France, the creation of such a set of fonts, in line with the French concept of elegance, may have been inadvertently some of the design but make this font with a unique readability, it is widely used in the book body.

Here is the Sabon Next font, is after two times improved Garamond excellent variant, as if to a set of fresh and elegant Garamond, more emphasis on "clear." There are also a number of different versions of fonts, such as Stempel Garamond and Adobe Garamond. Note that Windows has its own "Garamond (actually Monotype Garamond)", which is not really a Garamond Orthodox series font, so some letters will look awkward.

　　The Chinese collocation choice suggestion:

Garamond series recommendations with some Chinese text font, such as all kinds of newspaper song, book song, etc., are hundred-match font, personal advice with the black is not so big, thick and soft and the same elegant founder Orchid Pavilion, the following same collocation Sabon next (Personal feeling Orchid Pavilion issue song or slender, bad control of gray level. If Sabon Next can be a little bit more fine.

The first picture uses the Linotype Sabon Next's Regular character weight, appears the gray level uneven; the second picture shows the heavy, appears not so abrupt, but the title uses the word weight all to use the founder you this Chinese typeface is to have how fine 233

　　Swift Series

Aren't we going to be quick? This set of fonts is called Fast (Swift) and is used in typesetting of text that requires quick access to information, emphasizing not elegance, but economy and speed.

Please read the above paragraph line by row (this passage has no practical meaning), feel the speed of the line of sight movement, and then read the paragraph with Sabon Next before reading the text, compare these two times which read fast?

Why does Swift speed up its line of sight? The reason is that many of the original sleek structures become flat (or even rough), and delete a lot of details (no such graceful curve and stroke end), through the design artificially "guide" the eye movement, the following figure.

　　The Chinese collocation choice suggestion:

Swift is too single-minded, is there any font in the Chinese font that resembles its function? And they have to move out of the liberal song of their home. Although the plane of sight movement in Chinese and Western languages will be different, it is much better to use Swift with the Burson song than the American typewriter style of the western part, which is directly in the Burson song.

Here is Linotype Neue Swift's Light character weight, with a very sense of Burson song.

　　Times series

Yes, all Windows users. Automatic anti-aliasing font for the retina The Times, which was first born to replace the font for the UK, designer Stanley Morison openly complained that the original type was too thin and too readable:

Then the Times quit and shouted at Stanley Morison: Can you up!

Then the latter is up, The Times series is born (that is, Times New Roman)

(The above two pictures are from Typophile)

Times the biggest advantage is that the black is very strong, conducive to small font reading, but only with the Times new Roman to fit all the font size it is also unbearable, so in addition to the times we usually use the new Roman and The Times LT series, there are times Ten this kind of according to the small The Times of the production of type number.

　　The Chinese collocation choice suggestion:

Times with the song body (system from the song body) in Word cooperation for many years, but unfortunately in recent years in the song Body for a new love Calibri, provoked the times alone, and the original in the song body is relatively fine, with the times this black and coarse does not match, then how to do? Founder of the new book song appeared, It and the song system of the same homology, and the black than in the song body Strong, and the times with just right! and founder of the new book song followed by founder of the western part of the song, with a certain type of bodoni (and only in the founder of the software to provide the Italian italic), the contrast is too strong, than the "Times" The old version of the font Stadion, can not fit the Chinese part, so it is also a consensual thing to change the times!

The word is Linotype times Ten, and founder of the new book song is a perfect match.

　　Palatino Series

The first time I saw the shape of Palatino, I thought it was a simple decorative font, readability are problematic, how can engaging? However, in the text of foreign books frequently saw her figure, I realized the true value of this font.

By the world famous calligrapher Hermann Zapf Design This based on the Venetian transcription handwriting style font, at first glance looks like the strokes are pitted, the end is sharp and incomparable, is not for reading material.

But when I turned it into a body font, I was surprised to find that these sharp "thorns" turned out to be a good guide to visual movement, and that, unlike Swift, which gave up some of the beauty of the reading speed, Palatino kept its beauty at different sizes. Elegance ", just as the same designer of another as Optima, although retained the German style of the" sharp "sense of the font, but it is this" sharp ", so that the overall shape of the glyphs appear very soft. There is a clear beauty under the large font size, there is a gentle beauty in the small size, chaos and not disorderly, big Qiao not work.

Speaking of this, I once wanted to put some of the same radicals with a distinctive "thorn" founder Ya Song series and Palatino Collocation, but the Jason "thorn" and Palatino "sharp" is always difficult to equate. Palatino is a slightly emotional font, even if used as a text, this particular feeling has not weakened, which makes it no matter with what the Chinese song Body (the body) collocation can not match this emotion, like someone to take Optima with the same so-called " Trumpet "Black body collocation, wind horse cattle and eventually not phase.

　　The Chinese collocation choice suggestion:

Don't let Chinese fonts speak, let Palatino show their unique side.

Still is founder new book song, such as The Times general silence just can let nearby Palatino Nova Shuxin.

But I know you're not going to find the perfect match Palatino font. In fact, with Palatino design background and ideas (or someone willing to call "feelings") similar to the Chinese font type is present, is Song. They also stem from the time when the copied industry was replaced by the printing industry, also make compromises on the printing process (Palatino is adapted to cast type, the calligrapher's handwriting is fixed in a small type mold, while the imitation is to prevent wear and tear, at the end of some strokes of the "pen"), but not completely subservient ( Palatino into the calligraphy elements, imitation retained the Chinese characters regular script of the aesthetic feeling, not as plain as the song of the flat monotonous), always have a kind of not "in cahoots" "integrity".

Unfortunately Song's choice is too few, want to really use in the text of words estimate no reader will buy, the current several sets of imitation either too thin, or too flat, or digitized contour destroyed all beauty.

Until I found the titling (title) style of Palatino Nova on the same day, and Mr. Shang's " Wen Yue Archaic Imitation "Everything just gets better, even though the Chinese character and the western language are a bit awkward, although the latter is not as much as the words directly from the classics, although this is only limited to the title word. But enough for Palatino to find a Chinese font to rely on.

Wen Yue Archaic Imitation + Palatino Nova titling

Body font part of the end, the next will be the title font update, remember to pay attention to micro Bo yo.