The fonts we use today tend to have been created in the 14th-17th centuries, or at least based on that classical style. Best Fonts for Body TextĪs you will see, the developers of typefaces produced after the invention of the printing press knew something about readability. These are the reasons why companies spend so much money on getting print ads “just right,” ensuring that they are sending the message that will encourage consumers to buy. Imagine a book meant to evoke the reader’s emotions, and the body text is Helvetica! Talk about cold! The reader will sense that the message is wrong, and probably won’t even know why. If it’s a good fit, the reader probably won’t even notice the reading will feel easy and just “flow.” In contrast, the wrong choice of typeface can feel jarring. The right text font for a book can complement the author's message. Book designers will study a manuscript to get a feel for the tone of the writing before choosing a text font. Depending on the book’s genre and topic, there may be other messages, such as mysterious, romantic, cheerful, transformative, business-like and more.įor both print and digital books, the typeface is part of the message. In addition to being readable, the author wants the text to look inviting and welcoming. What message is your book trying to send? What do you want the reader to feel? Yet, how many books have you seen with a sans-serif font in the main body because the author preferred it that way?įont choice is just one aspect of typesetting that can improve readability.įor more on this, read What Is Typesetting and Why Does It Matter? For this reason, sans-serif fonts should be reserved for headings or other limited uses.
Reading a line of text printed in sans serif is more tiring. Serifs help pull the text together, making it easier for the eye to move and recognize one letter to another, helping the eye to speed through long passages of text.Īs the name “sans serif” indicates, these are fonts without the decorative flourish (think Helvetica or Arial). Serif fonts are easier on the reader’s eye than sans-serif fonts the stroke leads the reader’s eye from one letter to the next. The “serif” is the decorative stroke that finishes each end of a letter (think Times Roman). Serif fonts help with readability, and are therefore preferable in the body of a book. Factors that determine the readability of a typeface include the spacing between letters, the height and thickness of letters, and the size of the serifs. Readability is dependent on legibility, which is how easily one letter can be distinguished from another. Readability describes the degree of visual comfort a person experiences when reading lengthy passages or reading for a long period of time. A post shared by IngramSpark Self-Publishing Readability
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