Legibility. Problematic aspects of studies – results – practice
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12775/SE.2013.024Keywords
legibility, typography, the lack of established definition of legibility, the recognition of signs, practical applicationsAbstract
In the process of creating a functional typographic statement, every decision regarding a project must be rationally justified. It seems that both studies pertaining to the legibility and the accessibility of their results can serve as an objective tool verifying the quality of the project. However, substantive values of the studies and the lack of established definition of legibility cause a problem. Therefore, some questions arise: what is legibility and how to study it? Can we focus only on legibility understood as the recognition of signs? The lack of one definition of legibility developed by the interdisciplinary scientific community and studies on many variables bring different results which can be treated as not entirely credible. The article raises an issue relating to the advisability and quality of the studies on the legibility of typeface, presenting some problems with their practical applications. Moreover, it discusses potential sources of problems with mutual understanding, interaction or communication between typographers and academics specializing in various fields.
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