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The Rhetoric of Typography: The Persona of Typeface and Text
Abstract
Practitioners typically agree that typefaces have personas, and they often suggest specific personas for specific typefaces, but these guidelines rely on craftlore rather than on empirical evidence. Research on typography has focused primarily on readability and legibility issues; there have been few studies investigating the personas of typefaces. There is a clear gap in the research. With the increased flexibility in design that comes with more sophisticated desktop publishing technology, with an ongoing shift from printed to electronic documents, and with a growing emphasis on visual communication, this gap is becoming increasingly important to the field of technical communication. The studies discussed here provide strong empirical support for the notion that readers ascribe personality attributes both to typefaces and to text passages. The data provide a foundation for investigation of the interactions between typeface and text persona.
... Type fonts (which form part of brand design) are a crucial element to consider when planning brand gender positioning strategies as they add to competitive advantage, promote brand recognition and recall, influence brand personality and works with other brand design components such as colours, pictures and layouts as clearly specified in several studies carried out in an international contexts (Childers, 2002;Brumberger, 2003;Doyle, 2004, Grohmann et al., 2013Evans, 2014;Puškarević et al., 2014;Lieven et al., 2019). Type fonts are important brand cues as they can influence people's behavior and promote positive attitudes towards a brand, event, cause or service (Haenschen, 2019). ...
... Typography is the art or skills of developing communications by using printed words and consumers associate brand personality and brand gender perceptions with different type fonts (Thangaraj, 2004). Type fonts form part of the brand design elements and add to competitive advantage, promote brand recognition and recall, positively influence brand harmony and equity and complements other brand design aspects such as colours, pictures and designs (Childers, 2002;Brumberger, 2003;Doyle, 2004;Thangaraj, 2004;Puškarević et al., 2014;Peate, 2018). Type fonts trigger different emotions and consumers respond more to type fonts that depict harmony, flourishment, excitement, sincerity, sophistication, ruggedness and competence. ...
... Consumers associate different products with different type fonts and classified them as per their brand gender perceptions. Previous empirical findings suggest that consumers respond more to type fonts that are in harmony with the product types being advertised and tend to choose products that use type fonts that are complement to the product they are purchasing (Childers, 2002;Bromberg, 2003;Brumberger, 2003;Doyle, 2004;Thangaraj, 2004;Henderson et al., 2004;Fugate & Philips, 2010;Grohmann, 2016;Peate, 2018). The current research aims to identify if consumers select type fonts as per the product category and product being advertised. ...
The purpose of this paper is to explore the influence of type fonts on the purchase of branded products from a gendered point of view and whether type fonts used by brands can be utilized in brand re-gendering of a product in emerging economies. Four quantitative studies were conducted, collecting data from people aged 18 and above in Mauritius. In total, 150 valid questionnaires were used in the analysis of data using the statistical package for the social sciences. The results have revealed that brand femininity is associated with 'script' type fonts and brand masculinity is paired with 'display' type fonts in an emerging country such as Mauritius. Further outcomes of the research have indicated that product categories do not impact on type fonts being used for brands and consumers do not classify products in different genders based on their product category. Moreover, men and women are not much influenced by type fonts when purchasing and recommending products in emerging countries such as Mauritius. Finally, the results have also revealed that type fonts do not assist in brand re-gendering and more branding cues need to be altered to successfully change the existing brand gender perceptions of a product for emerging economies. This present research has several practical implications for brand managers and businesses and the way they communicate their brand gender using type fonts to customers of emerging countries in African region.
... Several researchers have found that typefaces can trigger 'semantic associations' in readers. In one study, participants ranked fonts based on traits like confidence, coldness, friendliness, or relaxation, and consistently attributed the same traits to the same fonts (Brumberger, 2003). These findings were replicated using other personality descriptors, like cold, elegant, or feminine, proving strong associations made to each typeface (Jordan et al., 2017). ...
... In other words, participants tended to assign letter shapes that resembled their own handwriting style as having positive connotations compared to letter shapes that were more different from their own writing style. Our findings align with previous studies, demonstrating that participants assign semantic association to letter styles (Brumberger, 2003;Hazlett et al., 2013;Valasco et al., 2015;Schroll et al., 2018) and that familiar stimuli are preferred over unfamiliar ones (Sheldon, 1969;Zizak & Reber, 2004;Ashcraft, 2006) demonstrating that the mereexposure, positively correlates with other implicit judgments. The available research was examined with a view to applying it to typography; in particular, the work published by Beier and Larson (2013) suggests that familiarity has an impact on preference. ...
There is much evidence that familiarity can affect perception of stimuli, with items that are familiar to the individual being preferred and better remembered. Previous research has also shown that familiarity with a typeface increases preference for it, but no studies have evaluated the impact of familiarity in relation to the affect towards handwritten text. For the present study, a two-part experiment (N = 422) was designed to measure how contemporary users of the Latin script perceive handwritten text. The first section was designed to collect specimens of the participants’ handwriting. The second, which was adapted to each participant’s handwriting style, measured implicit judgments of certain familiar letter shapes against unfamiliar ones. Results show that familiarity positively influences the extent to which one judges the friendliness and trustworthiness of handwritten text. Furthermore, the greater the similarity to how one writes a letterform, the greater the observed effect in terms of perceived friendliness. These findings suggest that people have an implicit bias towards handwriting that looks like their own.
... A popular group of special fonts is the one known as script fonts. These fonts are often used by high-end brands and are typically associated with qualities of 'elegance' (Brumberger, 2003), 'formality', and 'luxury' (Childers & Jass, 2002). A script font evokes the formal cursive writing style, where letter strokes appear to have been written with a pen in a steady flow (Beier, 2017). ...
... It is well-documented that logos, as visual cues, play a central role in communicating a company's identity and capturing consumers' attention (Kim & Lim, 2019). Script fonts are often used in logotypes, as they evoke popular brand values (Brumberger, 2003;Childers & Jass, 2002). One well-known example is the Coca-Cola logo, which has undergone minimal changes since its creation and is considered a classic icon (Dai, 2021). ...
Previous work has shown that letters presented in special fonts with a high degree of script style have a poor recognition rate. We investigated whether there is a breaking point where this deficit sets in. In an experimental paradigm using a three-letter string partial report, 32 participants were presented with test stimuli of four new fonts with gradually increasing script style. The results of our investigation showed that each level of increasing script style resulted in significantly worse recognition. These findings demonstrate that for maximum letter recognition, the font style should be based on simple and familiar letter skeletons.
... From Bartram (1982), the current manuscript also adopts the term "perception" to indicate participants' ability to notice impressions, feelings, moods, and personalities (i.e., semantic qualities) communicated by typefaces. This is also in line with previous literature on the topic (e.g., Brumberger, 2003aBrumberger, , 2003bDoyle & Bottomley, 2006, 2010Gump, 2001;Li & Suen, 2010;Louch, 2011). ...
... Most of the studies listed in Table 1 presented the full alphabet in uppercase and lowercase, sometimes together with numbers and symbols (e.g., Nedeljković et al., 2017;Rowe, 1982;Shaikh et al., 2006). However, a group of authors preferred to present meaningful text to participants -such as "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog, " a sentence that includes every letter in the alphabet (e.g., Brumberger, 2003b;Choi et al., 2016;Gump, 2001), emails (Louch, 2011), and text passages (Brumberger, 2003a). Finally, some researchers presented text with real words but no meaning, such as "over there. ...
The selection of an appropriate typeface is fundamental in numerous contexts. For example, a typeface that communicates the correct qualities increases the probability of buying a product, perceiving a brand as trustworthy, increasing the time spent exploring a website, and communicating a message effectively (Huang & Liu, 2020; Johnson-Sheehan, 2014; Velasco, 2019). However, professionals report struggling to find the most appropriate typeface for their project and, as a result, spending a considerable amount of time on the search (Wu et al., 2019). This is in part due to the lack of information regarding which qualities each typeface communicates (Wu et al., 2019). In fact, the data that exist on the subject are scattered across several research articles. Consequently, professionals have few tools to help them choose the appropriate typeface based on scientific data, and instead must often rely on personal experience (O'Donovan et al., 2014). The current review aims to provide professionals with scientific support for choosing an appropriate typeface by collecting these scattered data in a single place. We describe the findings of 34 studies that asked participants to rate the perception of 229 qualities in 635 typefaces, and we created a unified dataset where data are easily comparable across multiple studies. We believe this work will make the messages created by professionals in the design, marketing and communication industries more effective.
Recently, we have been creating a more comprehensive dataset of how fonts are perceived. The dataset can easily explored at tipo: www.tipotype.co.uk
... Even so, both maintained that these connotations would influence readers' interpretations when the typefaces were used for regular narrative. E. R. Brumberger (2003b) set out to test this idea by comparing the connotations of typefaces and the connotations of texts in which they were used. In her first study, she asked 80 students to rate how much each of 15 descriptors applied to each of 15 typefaces. ...
... In her second study, Brumberger (2003b) presented another 80 students with 15 different texts, each containing 375 words, drawn from a variety of published sources. The participants were asked to read each text and to rate it on the same 15 scales. ...
This chapter discusses the increased use of screen-based reading in education and in daily life generally, noting that readers usually have the option of printing off screen-based material to be read on paper. Some existing typefaces were taken over for use in computer systems, while other serif and sans serif typefaces were developed specifically for on-screen use. The chapter discusses the legibilityLegibility of serif and sans serif typefaces projected using older technology such as slide projectorsSlide projectors, overhead projectorsOverhead projectors, and PowerPointPowerPoint. Finally, the chapter describes some of the technical issues concerning the way that images are displayed using cathode-ray tubesCathode-Ray Tubes (CRTs) and liquid crystal displays.
... Even so, both maintained that these connotations would influence readers' interpretations when the typefaces were used for regular narrative. E. R. Brumberger (2003b) set out to test this idea by comparing the connotations of typefaces and the connotations of texts in which they were used. In her first study, she asked 80 students to rate how much each of 15 descriptors applied to each of 15 typefaces. ...
... In her second study, Brumberger (2003b) presented another 80 students with 15 different texts, each containing 375 words, drawn from a variety of published sources. The participants were asked to read each text and to rate it on the same 15 scales. ...
Any differences in the legibilityLegibility of serif and sans serif typefaces might become more apparent in readers whose visual systems are challenged as the result of disablement. Some researchers have focused on children in special educationSpecial education. In particular, children with visual impairment might be more sensitive to typographical factors. It has been suggested that the effects of congenital visual impairmentVisual impairment, congenital might be different from those of acquired visual impairmentVisual impairment, acquired. Finally, a majority of people with aphasiaAphasia also exhibit an impairment of reading, while other people without aphasiaAphasia may exhibit the specific disorder of reading known as dyslexia.
... Even so, both maintained that these connotations would influence readers' interpretations when the typefaces were used for regular narrative. E. R. Brumberger (2003b) set out to test this idea by comparing the connotations of typefaces and the connotations of texts in which they were used. In her first study, she asked 80 students to rate how much each of 15 descriptors applied to each of 15 typefaces. ...
... In her second study, Brumberger (2003b) presented another 80 students with 15 different texts, each containing 375 words, drawn from a variety of published sources. The participants were asked to read each text and to rate it on the same 15 scales. ...
As novice readers, young children may be disproportionately affected by different typefaces. The use of different typefaces may also affect how readily children acquire the ability to read. Research by Burt and Kerr[aut]Kerr, J. is often cited in support of the idea that serif typefaces are more legible. Zachrisson[aut]Zachrisson, B. provided a more thorough account of the role of typographic variables in reading among children of different ages using various research methods. It has been known for more than 100 years that children tend to confuse letters that are mirror images of each other (such as p and q), and this may in principle be affected by the presence or absence of serifs. Older readers tend to suffer from visual problems which may depend on typographical factors. This is of practical importance, as in the design of labels for medication containers.
... Even so, both maintained that these connotations would influence readers' interpretations when the typefaces were used for regular narrative. E. R. Brumberger (2003b) set out to test this idea by comparing the connotations of typefaces and the connotations of texts in which they were used. In her first study, she asked 80 students to rate how much each of 15 descriptors applied to each of 15 typefaces. ...
... In her second study, Brumberger (2003b) presented another 80 students with 15 different texts, each containing 375 words, drawn from a variety of published sources. The participants were asked to read each text and to rate it on the same 15 scales. ...
This chapter concludes Part I by summarising and discussing the key findings. Are there any differences in the legibilityLegibility of serif and sans serif typefaces when they are used to generate printed material? Are there any differences in readers’ preferences and connotations between serif and sans serif typefaces when they are used to generate printed material? Where does this leave previously stated assumptions about the legibilityLegibility of serif and sans serif typefaces? The chapter concludes by assessing the position adopted in the latest edition of the American Psychological Association’sAmerican Psychological Association, Publication Manual Publication Manual.
... Even so, both maintained that these connotations would influence readers' interpretations when the typefaces were used for regular narrative. E. R. Brumberger (2003b) set out to test this idea by comparing the connotations of typefaces and the connotations of texts in which they were used. In her first study, she asked 80 students to rate how much each of 15 descriptors applied to each of 15 typefaces. ...
... In her second study, Brumberger (2003b) presented another 80 students with 15 different texts, each containing 375 words, drawn from a variety of published sources. The participants were asked to read each text and to rate it on the same 15 scales. ...
This end-piece considers lessons that can be learned from this review. Some researchers have put forward reasons why serifs might render typefaces more legible. Others have suggested that the presence or absence of serifs is a proxy for some other property of typefaces. In fact, there seems to be no difference in the legibilityLegibility of serif typefaces and sans serif typefaces either when reading from paper or when reading from screens. The most important lesson is that assertions to the effect that “everybody knows” that such-and-such” should be regarded simply as conjectures that might be subject to refutation through carefully designed research.
... Even so, both maintained that these connotations would influence readers' interpretations when the typefaces were used for regular narrative. E. R. Brumberger (2003b) set out to test this idea by comparing the connotations of typefaces and the connotations of texts in which they were used. In her first study, she asked 80 students to rate how much each of 15 descriptors applied to each of 15 typefaces. ...
... In her second study, Brumberger (2003b) presented another 80 students with 15 different texts, each containing 375 words, drawn from a variety of published sources. The participants were asked to read each text and to rate it on the same 15 scales. ...
AReading textreading from papernumberComprehending textreading from paper of studies have evaluated the role of typographic variables (including the presence or absence of serifs) in reading continuous text. Asking participants to read continuous text allows less scope for experimental control, and so some researchers have instead focused on participants’ comprehension of written material. Subjective impressions of the legibilityLegibility of different typefaces can be regarded as one aspect of their connotative meaningConnotative meaning, and other researchers have asked participants to evaluate typefaces on different dimensions using single rating scales or semantic differentialsSemantic differential. The chapter concludes by considering the role of such connotative variables in the legibilityLegibility of text printed in different typefaces.
... Even so, both maintained that these connotations would influence readers' interpretations when the typefaces were used for regular narrative. E. R. Brumberger (2003b) set out to test this idea by comparing the connotations of typefaces and the connotations of texts in which they were used. In her first study, she asked 80 students to rate how much each of 15 descriptors applied to each of 15 typefaces. ...
... In her second study, Brumberger (2003b) presented another 80 students with 15 different texts, each containing 375 words, drawn from a variety of published sources. The participants were asked to read each text and to rate it on the same 15 scales. ...
This chapter concludes Part II by summarising and discussing the key findings. Are there any differences in the legibilityLegibility of serif and sans serif typefaces when they are used to generate material on computer monitors or other screens? Are there any differences in readers’ preferences and connotations between serif and sans serif typefaces when they are used to generate material on computer monitors or other screens? Where does this leave previously stated assumptions about the legibilityLegibility of serif and sans serif typefaces on computer screens?
... Even so, both maintained that these connotations would influence readers' interpretations when the typefaces were used for regular narrative. E. R. Brumberger (2003b) set out to test this idea by comparing the connotations of typefaces and the connotations of texts in which they were used. In her first study, she asked 80 students to rate how much each of 15 descriptors applied to each of 15 typefaces. ...
... In her second study, Brumberger (2003b) presented another 80 students with 15 different texts, each containing 375 words, drawn from a variety of published sources. The participants were asked to read each text and to rate it on the same 15 scales. ...
Research onComprehending textreading from screensreading textReading textreading from screens presented on computer screens has enabled investigators to use other forms of technology such as eye-tracking equipment. As with research on reading from paper, asking participants to read continuous text provides less opportunity for researchers to impose experimental control over their reading behaviour. Some researchers have instead focused on their participants’ comprehension of material. A particular device that has been investigated is the presentation of letters, words, or groups of words one at a time at the reader’s point of fixation. This was originally thought to compensate for the limitations of handheld devicesHandheld devices. It has tended to be assumed that sans serif typefaces are more legible than serif typefaces when used on handheld devicesHandheld devicesor smartphonesSmartphones. Finally, this chapter describes research on the connotations of different typefaces when presented on computer screens.
... Even so, both maintained that these connotations would influence readers' interpretations when the typefaces were used for regular narrative. E. R. Brumberger (2003b) set out to test this idea by comparing the connotations of typefaces and the connotations of texts in which they were used. In her first study, she asked 80 students to rate how much each of 15 descriptors applied to each of 15 typefaces. ...
... In her second study, Brumberger (2003b) presented another 80 students with 15 different texts, each containing 375 words, drawn from a variety of published sources. The participants were asked to read each text and to rate it on the same 15 scales. ...
It has been arguedContext that the context of reading is a primary determinant of the legibilityLegibility of different typefaces and the readers’ expectationsExpectations of the legibilityLegibility of what they are reading. Newspaper headlinesHeadlines have been used as a specific contextContext in which researchers have studied the legibilityLegibility and connotations of different kinds of text. Wheildon[aut]Wheildon, C. presented an extensive programme of research on the legibilityLegibility of different kinds of text. However, his research has come under extensive criticism and suffers from further issues that have not been noted in previous research. Several researchers have subsequently considered the effect of variations in typefaces and the expectationsExpectations of readers in different kinds of situations.
... Even so, both maintained that these connotations would influence readers' interpretations when the typefaces were used for regular narrative. E. R. Brumberger (2003b) set out to test this idea by comparing the connotations of typefaces and the connotations of texts in which they were used. In her first study, she asked 80 students to rate how much each of 15 descriptors applied to each of 15 typefaces. ...
... In her second study, Brumberger (2003b) presented another 80 students with 15 different texts, each containing 375 words, drawn from a variety of published sources. The participants were asked to read each text and to rate it on the same 15 scales. ...
The earliestLegibility research on the legibility of different typefaces was concerned with recognising individual letters and words under different conditions. The vertical “stripiness” of individual words can be defined in terms of their horizontal autocorrelationAutocorrelation, horizontal, and this seems to affect how quickly they can be read. Visual confusions among different letters were considered to be a primary determinant of legibilityLegibility. There is a separate line of research concerned with evaluating visual acuityVisual acuity, going back to the construction of optical charts in the middle of the nineteenth century.
... Even so, both maintained that these connotations would influence readers' interpretations when the typefaces were used for regular narrative. E. R. Brumberger (2003b) set out to test this idea by comparing the connotations of typefaces and the connotations of texts in which they were used. In her first study, she asked 80 students to rate how much each of 15 descriptors applied to each of 15 typefaces. ...
... In her second study, Brumberger (2003b) presented another 80 students with 15 different texts, each containing 375 words, drawn from a variety of published sources. The participants were asked to read each text and to rate it on the same 15 scales. ...
... Even so, both maintained that these connotations would influence readers' interpretations when the typefaces were used for regular narrative. E. R. Brumberger (2003b) set out to test this idea by comparing the connotations of typefaces and the connotations of texts in which they were used. In her first study, she asked 80 students to rate how much each of 15 descriptors applied to each of 15 typefaces. ...
... In her second study, Brumberger (2003b) presented another 80 students with 15 different texts, each containing 375 words, drawn from a variety of published sources. The participants were asked to read each text and to rate it on the same 15 scales. ...
This chapter introduces Part I by summarising the attitudes of 20th-century typographers, who almost without exception considered that serif typefaces were easier to read than sans serif typefaces when printed on paper. In the twenty-first century, any dissenting voices have mainly come from journal editors, who have tended to recommend the use of sans serif typefaces without providing any supporting evidence. This chapter also considers but dismisses the idea that serifs are purely decorative and superfluous to the task of identifying individual letters.
... Even so, both maintained that these connotations would influence readers' interpretations when the typefaces were used for regular narrative. E. R. Brumberger (2003b) set out to test this idea by comparing the connotations of typefaces and the connotations of texts in which they were used. In her first study, she asked 80 students to rate how much each of 15 descriptors applied to each of 15 typefaces. ...
... In her second study, Brumberger (2003b) presented another 80 students with 15 different texts, each containing 375 words, drawn from a variety of published sources. The participants were asked to read each text and to rate it on the same 15 scales. ...
As mentioned in Chap. 8, any differences in the legibilityLegibility of serif and sans serif typefaces might become more apparent in readers whose visual systems are challenged as the result of disablement. Relatively few studies have been carried out into the legibilityLegibility of serif and sans serif typefaces by people with disabilities when the material is read on computer monitors or other screens. In principle, visual impairment can arise from a variety of causes, but research has focused on readers with dyslexia and readers with age-related macular degenerationMacular degeneration.
... Even so, both maintained that these connotations would influence readers' interpretations when the typefaces were used for regular narrative. E. R. Brumberger (2003b) set out to test this idea by comparing the connotations of typefaces and the connotations of texts in which they were used. In her first study, she asked 80 students to rate how much each of 15 descriptors applied to each of 15 typefaces. ...
... In her second study, Brumberger (2003b) presented another 80 students with 15 different texts, each containing 375 words, drawn from a variety of published sources. The participants were asked to read each text and to rate it on the same 15 scales. ...
As with readingLegibility from print, the earliest research on the legibilityLegibility of different typefaces when reading from screens was concerned with recognising individual letters and words under different conditions. Here, too, visual confusions were originally considered to be a primary determinant of the legibilityLegibility of serif and sans serif typefaces.
... Even so, both maintained that these connotations would influence readers' interpretations when the typefaces were used for regular narrative. E. R. Brumberger (2003b) set out to test this idea by comparing the connotations of typefaces and the connotations of texts in which they were used. In her first study, she asked 80 students to rate how much each of 15 descriptors applied to each of 15 typefaces. ...
... In her second study, Brumberger (2003b) presented another 80 students with 15 different texts, each containing 375 words, drawn from a variety of published sources. The participants were asked to read each text and to rate it on the same 15 scales. ...
This chapter distinguishes between typefaces and fontsFonts versus typefaces and between legibilityLegibilityand readabilityLegibility versus readability. A variety of objective methods have been developed for measuring the legibility of printed material, and many have been taken over into research on reading from screens. Researchers have also collected subjective reportsSubjective reports from participants regarding the legibilityLegibility and other properties of presented material. This chapter also describes how typographers define the size of typefacesSize of typefaces and which aspects are likely to affect the legibilityLegibility of material.
... Even so, both maintained that these connotations would influence readers' interpretations when the typefaces were used for regular narrative. E. R. Brumberger (2003b) set out to test this idea by comparing the connotations of typefaces and the connotations of texts in which they were used. In her first study, she asked 80 students to rate how much each of 15 descriptors applied to each of 15 typefaces. ...
... In her second study, Brumberger (2003b) presented another 80 students with 15 different texts, each containing 375 words, drawn from a variety of published sources. The participants were asked to read each text and to rate it on the same 15 scales. ...
This chapter discussesInternet browsers whether serif and sans serif typefaces differ in their legibilityLegibility when saved in HTML and viewed on-screen through web browsers. This includes material saved in a local workstation as well as material retrieved from the internet. In addition to a variety of individual studies, the chapter describes a research programme that was carried out by Bernard and colleagues at Wichita State University. Further research has been carried out into the use of different typefaces for various online purposes.
... Schiller (1935) postulated that different typefaces would be suitable for specific commodities. More contemporary designers stipulate that the content and purpose of the text implicitly demand a particular format of communication, and that typography is an essential ingredient in that format as it expresses content in parallel to the verbal text (Brumberger, 2003). ...
... The capacity of nontext elements to elicit readers' feelings has been referred to as atmosphere value (Poffenberger & Franken, 19231, feeling tone (Ovink, 19381, congeniality (Zachrisson, 1965), connotative meaning (Rowe, 19821, semantic quality (Bartram, 19821, multimodal features (Walker, Smith, & Livingston, 1986), topographic allusion (Lewis & Walker, 1989), and a created mood (Brumberger, 2003). ...
The aim of this study was to explore the latent affective and persuasive meaning attributed to text when appearing in two commonly used fonts. Two satirical readings were selected from the New York Times. These readings (one addressing government issues, the other education policy) were each printed in Times New Roman and Arial fonts of the same size and presented in randomized order to 102 university students, who ranked the readings on a number of adjective descriptors. Analysis showed that satirical readings in Times New Roman were perceived as more funny and angry than those in Arial, the combination of emotional perception which is congruent with the definition of satire. This apparent interaction of font type with emotional qualities of text has implications for marketing, advertising, and the persuasive literature.
... Further there have been studies to identify trends in typography design and attributes by Shinahara et al [2]. Some other studies have been done to associate personality traits and fonts like the ones by O'Donovan et al. [3], Brumberger et al. [4], Juni and Gross [5]. Another recent work in associating verbal context to fonts was done by Shirani et al. [6]. ...
One of the key challenges of AI generated designs in Microsoft Designer is selecting the most contextually relevant and novel fonts for the design suggestions. Previous efforts involved manually mapping design intent to fonts. Though this was high quality, this method does not scale for a large number of fonts (3000+) and numerous user intents for graphic design. In this work we create font visual embeddings, a font stroke width algorithm, a font category to font mapping dataset, an LLM-based category utilization description and a lightweight, low latency knowledge-distilled mini language model (Mini LM V2) to recommend multiple pairs of contextual heading and subheading fonts for beautiful and intuitive designs. We also utilize a weighted scoring mechanism, nearest neighbor approach and stratified sampling to rank the font pairs and bring novelty to the predictions.
... Furthermore, it is essential to acknowledge the concept of the "semantic effect" of typefaces, a phenomenon extensively explored in prior research. Empirical evidence indicates that typefaces possess distinct personalities that can evoke specific emotional or cognitive associations in viewers [61,62]. This inherent personality of typefaces influences how textual content is perceived, interpreted, and understood. ...
Cartographic design is fundamental to effective mapmaking, requiring adherence to principles such as visual hierarchy, symbolization, and color theory to convey spatial information accurately and intuitively, while Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Large Language Models (LLMs) have transformed various fields, their application in cartographic design remains underexplored. This study assesses the capabilities of a multimodal advanced LLM, GPT-4o, in understanding and suggesting cartographic design elements, focusing on adherence to established cartographic principles. Two assessments were conducted: a text-to-text evaluation and an image-to-text evaluation. In the text-to-text assessment, GPT-4o was presented with 15 queries derived from key concepts in cartography, covering classification, symbolization, visual hierarchy, color theory, and typography. Each query was posed multiple times under different temperature settings to evaluate consistency and variability. In the image-to-text evaluation, GPT-4o analyzed maps containing deliberate cartographic errors to assess its ability to identify issues and suggest improvements. The results indicate that GPT-4o demonstrates general reliability in text-based tasks, with variability influenced by temperature settings. The model showed proficiency in classification and symbolization tasks but occasionally deviated from theoretical expectations. In visual hierarchy and layout, the model performed consistently, suggesting appropriate design choices. In the image-to-text assessment, GPT-4o effectively identified critical design flaws such as inappropriate color schemes, poor contrast and misuse of shape and size variables, offering actionable suggestions for improvement. However, limitations include dependency on input quality and challenges in interpreting nuanced spatial relationships. The study concludes that LLMs like GPT-4o have significant potential in cartographic design, particularly for tasks involving creative exploration and routine design support. Their ability to critique and generate cartographic elements positions them as valuable tools for enhancing human expertise. Further research is recommended to enhance their spatial reasoning capabilities and expand their use of visual variables beyond color, thereby improving their applicability in professional cartographic workflows.
... Typographic design, especially the shape of typefaces, plays a crucial role not only in the cognitive processing of a text and reading fluency but also in the reader's mood by influencing their emotional response and sense of pleasantness when interacting with certain letterforms [61][62][63]. Perceptual studies have shown that shapes, tastes, and sounds can evoke certain emotions, including pleasure [46,[61][62][63][64][65][66][67][68][69]. Rounded and symmetrical shapes trigger more positive feelings than angular or asymmetrical ones [70,71]. ...
Reading fluency depends on the typographic design. Letters can have different shapes that evoke different feelings in the reader and influence reading fluency. Previous studies that explored the link between typeface shape and taste and its impact on reading and readers’ attitudes mainly focused on shorter texts or individual words. In contrast, our study investigated how the taste (sweetness) attributed to the typeface is related to reading fluency and the pleasantness of the typeface during reading longer texts, and whether these relationships are the same in children and adult readers. We found that readers of both age groups perceived rounded letters as sweeter than angular letters. The perceived sweetness correlated positively with the pleasantness of the typeface and reading fluency. Younger readers showed a higher general rating of sweetness and a stronger relationship between the perceived sweetness and the pleasantness of the typeface than older, more experienced readers. This suggests that the sweeter and more pleasant the typeface is perceived to be, the faster it can be read. When fast processing of longer texts is required, we recommend the use of rounded typefaces with more organic shapes, including serif typefaces with some characteristics of old-style typefaces, rather than using angular, sans serif typefaces.
... As it relates to language, writing, and text, the meaning of numbers, letters, words and sentences is important but equally so is the aesthetic quality of those symbols (Lester, Martin, and Smith-Rodden 2022). For example, in the two thumbnails shown in Figure 1, the colors (yellow and red) and the shape of the letters (to mimic dripping blood and to connote a thrilling effect) present a vastly different emotional reception and potential for audience interpretation than if they were rendered in neutral colors or typefaces with different personality characteristics (Brumberger 2003). These multimodal affordances and accompanying semiotic decisions anchor more concretely a particular meaning compared to the more polysemous nature of mono-modal visuals. ...
Thumbnails and link previews play an outsized role in determining which online content is shared, seen, and engaged with. But conventions for these vary depending on the platform and the content creator. Journalists and non-journalists alike use and sometimes design these thumbnails with often striking differences. On some news aggregators, like Apple News or Google News, the bulk of the thumbnails are photographs related in some way to the linked content. Yet, on other platforms, such as YouTube, the thumbnails are often bespoke designs that allow for more storytelling freedom and potentially more ethical risk compared to camera-based images. This study, informed by visual news values, uses the context of the 2022 stabbing homicide of four University of Idaho students to systematically examine all YouTube thumbnails related to the murder suspect in the first four days after he was publicly identified. In doing so, this study is able to contribute to our understanding of the visual presentation of a crime-related topic with limited source material and is also able to shed much-needed light on how journalistic practices and conventions compare to those of non-journalists in the selection and design of image thumbnails on YouTube.
... Presentational aspects of texts including font, formatting and layout are an important component of textual paralanguage. Research has demonstrated that readers have a tendency to ascribe connotative meaning to fonts, beyond the semantic meaning encoded linguistically in a text (Kostelnick, 1990;Brumberger, 2003;Jordan et al., 2017). For example, Charles Kostelnick (1990) argues that in the visual language of typography, font suggests a rhetorical stance: "serious, conversational, low key, energetic, highly technical, or user-friendly" (1990, p. 199). ...
Graphic novels are marketed as helpful for reluctant young readers. The supplementation of text with visual stimuli as part of a multimodal narrative is often claimed to improve reading comprehension and motivation in children and young adolescents. The translation into Arabic of Jeff Kinney's Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, by comparison, fails to deliver an equally engaging reading experience. In the Arabic versions of Rodrick Rules and Hard Luck, language acts as an obstacle to comprehension due to the misrepresentation of textual paralanguage, broadly defined as the written representation of nonverbal aspects of communication including tone, stress and volume. As paralanguage is also involved in character portrayal, this translation approach paints a rather dull image of the series' protagonist Greg. Using the textual paralanguage typology proposed by Luangrath et al. (J Consum Psychol 27:98-107, 2017), the case is made here for closer attention in translation to the pragmatic meanings contained in textual paralanguage. As the novel evolves to incorporate an ever-expanding array of multimodal elements, so should the translation strategies involved in rendering these texts into other languages.
... Anlamı taşıyan yalnızca kelimeler değildir; bu kelimelerin sunulma şekli de önemli bir rol oynar. Harflere ve sembollere eklenen küçük dekoratif çizgileri veya vuruşlarıyla serif yazı tipleri genellikle gelenek, saygı ve güvenilirlikle ilişkilendirilir (Brumberger, 2003). Örneğin birçok akademik kurum ve gazetenin, otorite ve güvenilirlik aktarmayı amaçlayan Times New Roman veya Georgia gibi serif yazı karakterlerini tercih ettiği görülür. ...
This article delves into the intricate relationship between typography and graphic design in a comprehensive manner. Within this context, the pivotal role of typography in enhancing readability, directing cognitive processes, and establishing emotional connections has been emphasized. Starting with the identification of the fundamental relationship between typography and graphic design, the study examines how the choice and design of typefaces play a critical role across a broad spectrum, from readability to visual hierarchy, and from brand identity to aesthetic value. Drawing insights from various disciplines, the profound influence of typography on cognitive and emotional responses has been discussed. Key elements such as legibility, readability, space utilization, color contrast, and typeface complexity and their impact on the effectiveness of written communication are meticulously explored. Moreover, the study underscores that typography is not merely a functional tool but also intertwines with societal values and individual experiences. Based on academic references, this review demonstrates how typography enriches both the aesthetic and functional facets of communication design.
... The results of the simple test carried out among a sample of young people in Malaysia who know little to nothing about Italian Fascism seem to point to the possibility that some elements in the fonts chosen may be somehow linked to something perceived as old and traditional (first font: the Roman world) or to something modern and suitable for public display, such as posters (second font: modernity). Even though the sample group is limited and these conclusions cannot be generalized, they are interesting and clearly in line with research on the perception of fonts such as that carried out by Morrison (1986), Brumberger (2003, Juni and Gross (2008), and Koch (2011), which indicates that the emotional response to fonts tends to be different for each font and consistent among different respondents in a statistically significant way. What most research has not shown to date, however, is the possible link between specific font styles and the ideas of the groups that have made their use emblematic beyond enregisterment, i.e., among people who do not know the social and historical context where the fonts were used. ...
This paper discusses the use of lettering and typeface in the linguistic landscape in Italy during the Fascist period (1922–1943), focusing on inscriptions on public buildings and the lettering used in propaganda posters and other materials. After a general introduction, some definitions, and an overview of Italian Fascism, the paper introduces the methodology employed, which consists first of an analysis of the lettering used in Fascist public writings and their link to ancient Rome on the one hand and modernity on the other, and second of a simple test carried out among a sample of students at Universiti Malaya (Malaysia) to investigate their perception of ‘Fascist’ fonts. There follows an analysis and discussion of the data, which leads to the conclusion that some of the ideas behind this right-wing movement seem to be portrayed by the specific lettering and fonts used. Finally, these conclusions are compared to those arrived at in previous research on fonts
... Several studies have shown that the perception of shapes, tastes and sounds evokes various feelings in humans, including the feeling of pleasantness (Childers and Jass, 2002;Brumberger, 2003;Mackiewicz, 2005;Shaikh et al., 2006;Bar and Neta, 2007;Tsonos and Kouroupetroglou, 2011;Amare and Manning, 2012;Crisinel et al., 2012;Ngo et al., 2013;Velasco et al., 2014Velasco et al., , 2015aVelasco et al., ,b, 2016Velasco et al., , 2018aSalgado-Montejo et al., 2015;Jordan, 2017;Davis, 2019;Haenschen and Tamul, 2019). Round and rounded shapes, as well as symmetric shapes evoke more pleasant feelings than angular or pointed and asymmetric shapes (Bar and Neta, 2007;Ngo et al., 2013;Turoman et al., 2018;Velasco et al., 2018b). ...
Introduction
The amount of educational material delivered to pupils and students through digital screens is increasing. This method of delivering educational materials has become even more prevalent during the COVID-19 pandemic. To be as effective as possible, educational material must be properly designed not only in terms of content, but also in terms of form, e.g., the typeface. The present study investigated the effect of letter shape on readers’ feelings of pleasantness during reading, reading fluency, and text comprehension and memorisation.
Methods
To find out whether age influences the effects of typeface shape on reading measures, we divided the participants into a group of less experienced readers (children) and more experienced readers (adults). Both groups read texts in eight different typefaces: four of them were round or in rounded shape, and four were angular or in pointed shape. With an eye-tracker, the reading speed and the number of regressive saccades were recorded as measures of reading fluency and changes in pupil size as an indicator of emotional response. After reading each text, the participants rated the pleasantness of the typeface, and their comprehension and memorisation of texts were checked by asking two questions about the text content.
Results
We found that compared to angular letters or letters in pointed shape, round letters or letters in round shape created more pleasant feelings for readers and lead to a faster reading speed. Children, as expected, read more slowly due to less reading experiences, but, interestingly, had a similar number of regressive saccades and did not comprehend or remember the text worse than university students.
Discussion
We concluded that softer typefaces of rounder shapes should be used in educational materials, as they make the reading process easier and thus support the learning process better for both younger and adult readers. The results of our study also showed that a comparison of findings of different studies may depend on the differences among the used letter shapes.
... Typographers and designers are often interested in the typeface personality or "typographic allusion" which refers to "the capacity of a typestyle to connote meaning over and above the primary meaning which is linguistically conveyed by words" (Lewis & Walker, 1989). Brumberger (2003) describes that the "content and purpose of the text should dictate the design of a document, and that form, including typography, should express the content just as the verbal text itself expresses content". Within communications research, many experts suggest that typefaces can convey mood, attitude, and tone while having a distinct persona based on the font's unique features. ...
... 40). Various studies point to the personas of typefaces (Brumberger 2003;Lewis & Walker, 1989); but an interesting counterpoint for the present article is Shaikh, Chapparo and Fox's (2006) observation that serif fonts (such as Times New Roman) have been perceived as formal and practical, while non serifs (such as Arial) seemed to have no distinctive characteristics. The interesting thing here is that the manifesto writers do not choose 'serious' fonts, or 'neutral' onesin their escape from academic texts, they pick distinctive and personal fonts. ...
If writing pedagogy aims at writer development rather than text fixing, understanding how the writer sees that development is a key element of our skillset as writing teachers. In this article, we argue that a writing manifesto is a way for academic writers to express their development – one that, crucially, draws on semiotic resources outside the usual palette of academic writing. We situate this argument in the literature about reflective writing, which sees reflection as key in writing development, but which also points to the limits of certain kinds of reflective writing. Specifically, several scholars have noted how the reflective essay, traditionally conceived, tends to be constructed of formulaic mappable moves that can obstruct meaningful reflection. By analysing a corpus of manifestos created by doctoral writers, we show how the writers’ use of distinctive semiotic resources – irony, parody, font choice, layout – allow the writers to position themselves as agentive, and present themselves as the makers, not the recipients, of rules about writing. The manifesto, then, is a useful genre for enabling reflection and development because it can create space for writers’ agency and text ownership. Our analysis highlights the value of further discussion about alternate modes of reflective writing.
... Studies generally divide into those focused on communication, in areas such as political science or marketing (e.g., Haenschen & Tamul, 2020;Henderson et al., 2004), and psychological studies of reading fluency, often in the context of students with dyslexia or visual impairment (e.g., Krivec et al., 2020). Research examining subjective impressions associated with typographic features, both in printed form and on screen, indicates that different typefaces are perceived to have different personas (Brumberger, 2003). Although these effects may be small, they might be cumulative over time for extended exposure. ...
p style="text-align: justify;">Comparative judgement methods are commonly used to explore standards in examination papers over time. However, studies are limited by a paucity of graded candidate scripts from previous years, as well as the expense and time required to standardise scripts. We present three studies that attempted, without the use of graded candidate scripts, to replicate and extend previous results about standards in mathematics examination papers. We found that re-typesetting examination papers into a consistent format was necessary, but that comparative judgement of examination papers without an archive of graded candidate scripts offered a reliable and efficient method for revealing relative demand over time. Our approach enables standards comparison where previously this was not possible. We found a reasonable correlation between judgments of actual student scripts and judgments of the items only, meaning that conclusions may be drawn about the demand of examination papers even when graded candidate scripts are not available.</p
... The presented evidences suggested the existence of neurobiological sex differences between genders in developmental dyslexia. Also, gender-based typeface preference amongst non-Dyslexic individuals does exist, according to Brumberger in [14], and Haenschen et al. in [15]. ...
... Thus, it was found that the size and proportion of letters, the length of words in the text, as well as the background on which these words are written, significantly affect the readability (Tinker, 1963). A number of studies have also found a significant contribution of the font (Brumberger, 2003;Gasser et al., 2005;Halin, 2016). ...
To understand the reading process, it is necessary to explore the mechanisms of visual word recognition. The basic level of that recognition is the processing of letters, their size and visual identity. The specificity of the Serbian language is characterized by the parallel use of two alphabetic systems – Latin and Cyrillic, which contain a number of common, but also their own unique letters. Since some of the differences between the fonts are based on visual specific aditions at the end of letter's lines, there is also a significant contribution of fonts in letter recognition and reading. The main goal of this study is to examine the effect of font type on the processing of Latin and Cyrillic words. The aim was also to examine the effect of letter degradation on the word processing in these two alphabetic systems. The study included two experiments with Latin and Cyrillic words written in lowercase and uppercase. Participants were 221 students from the University of Banja Luka. Three factors were varied in both experiments: alphabet, “visual availability” (which refers to the visibility of words after degradation), and font type. Two analyses were performed ANOVA by subject (F1 analysis) and ANOVA by item (F2 analysis). Results show that there is a main effect of visual availability on processing speed of words. Visual degradation has slowed reaction time, but this effect is not the same in Latin and Cyrillic words. Significant interaction of font and alphabet is confirmed only in F2 analysis, so these results have limited validity. This study also revealed differences between lowercase and uppercase. Degradation of lowercase was more detrimental that degradation of uppercase. The obtained results indicate that word processing in two alphabetic systems can be partly explained by the visual characteristics and grapheme structure of their letters.
... It is now a given axiom that typefaces carry emotional connotations in themselves because people involuntarily ascribe particular attributes to particular typographic features (e.g., Brumberger, 2003;Choi and Aizawa, 2019;Grohmann, 2016;Grohmann et al., 2013;Jordan et al., 2017;Lieven et al., 2015;Nedeljković et al., 2017;Qiu et al., 2017;Van Leeuwen, 2006;Wen and Lurie, 2018;Xu et al., 2017). Moreover, the extent to which individuals agree as to what typeface elicits what image is rather consistent (Morrison, 1986). ...
A growing body of research testifies that humans naturally deduce certain images from auditory cues as they do from visual cues. In the context of branding, this paper bridges two streams of research to reveal how the interplay between the auditory and visual images embedded in brand identities influences consumer response. Study participants were exposed to brand logotypes whose brand name and typography either agree or disagree in the images they convey. The results revealed that audiovisual image congruence in brand identity leads to increased brand appeal and quality perception as well as memory. In addition, the effect of auditory images and that of visual images were found to equally influence associative mappings such that neither dominates the other. These findings provide an evidential ground to reason and further explore how business enterprises may effectively communicate their brand images through multisensory channels by providing guidance in the intuitive decision-making process involved in brand naming and visual identity development.
... What was significant in the study was his assertion that typography itself might be poetic. Like Brumberger (2003), he argued that typefaces can have personas and the visual appearance and structure of typography 'can convey a visual texture, tone, and mood, that suggest a rhetorical stance' (Brumberger 2003: 208). ...
Quality, exegetical writing can be constrained when students marginalize poetic ways of thinking and replace them with carefully edited accounts that reshape the role and nature of emotional response. In the pursuit of rational, theoretically groomed accounts of practice, they can sometimes end up misrepresenting the embodied nature of their inquiries. Considering burgeoning research into poetic inquiry (PI) in the social sciences, this article employs a case study of five doctoral graduates in art and design who have articulated the role of poetic thinking in their creative practice theses. In addition to offering illustrations of how practice-led researchers use PI, the examples demonstrate ways in which poetic approaches can be employed to enhance communicative clarity beyond the constraints of conventional academic writing. Specifically, the examples demonstrate how poetic writing is used to process and articulate indigenous knowledge, enhance embodied thinking and inquiry and deepen levels of reflection and understanding. Such uses can cause a researcher to view the world differently and by extension, expand the nature of what it means to conduct research. In discussing the nature of poetic writing, the article considers three distinct profiles: exegetical writing employed when the nature of the practice is poetic; poetic writing that draws on indigenous approaches to scholarship and poetic writing used as a method for reflection.
... Si asumimos que la tipografía influye en la apreciación de la palabra escrita y consideramos, como plantea Arnheim (1986, p. 239) que nuestra percepción es procesada, en parte importante, por nuestro inconsciente, los tipos de letra transmiten significados que complementan lo que se está leyendo. Por ejemplo, si leemos la palabra "amor" y para representarla utilizamos letras con características morfológicas particulares y las disponemos de una manera específica en el soporte dado, quien la observe leerá "amor" y al mismo tiempo, guiado por la morfología y composición, percibirá un matiz o un contenido extra en lo que está leyendo, afirmación que encuentra sustento, por ejemplo, en los diversos estudios sobre retórica tipográfica de la investigadora Eva Brumberger (2003aBrumberger ( , 2003bBrumberger ( , 2004. ...
Se trata de una investigación cualitativa de carácter exploratorio, que busca examinar la correspondencia conceptual entre las cualidades retóricas de las expresiones tipográficas presentes en los rótulos publicitarios de una determinada zona urbana y los componentes culturales esenciales de dicho entorno, capturados a través de la etnografía visual. El caso de estudio está dado en el barrio Meiggs, situado en la ciudad de Santiago de Chile.
A través de la etnografía visual capturamos mediante fotografías el acontecer sociocultural del barrio. Esto dio paso a una catalogación de las capturas con base en parámetros de identificación y descripción, lo que nos permitió agruparlas con base en coincidencias descriptivas. Se formaron 10 grupos y seleccionamos una foto de cada uno para el estudio. Para el análisis de las imágenes creamos una plantilla de interpretación connotativa, lo que nos permitió llegar a una síntesis conceptual a partir de descriptores temáticos referenciales y temáticos no referenciales. Acompañamos a cada fotografía de una noticia referente al barrio y relacionada con su contenido específico. Posteriormente, sintetizamos también la noticia en conceptos mediante un software de análisis de discurso (part-of-speech.info) y a partir de eso logramos establecer un concepto esencial de la fotografía y su contenido. Luego, sometimos también a la expresión tipográfica presente en los rótulos al proceso de interpretación connotativa y análisis retórico, logrando encontrar así, en la totalidad de los casos analizados, una correspondencia conceptual entre las imágenes etnográficas y las expresiones tipográficas.
Entendiendo que es desde y en el espacio público donde se articula el paisaje urbano y que ahí se evidencian las conductas, acciones, interacciones, movilidades y manifestaciones simbólicas materiales e inmateriales de las personas que habitan dicho espacio, las expresiones tipográficas, en este caso las presentes en los rótulos publicitarios del entorno, emergen en dicho contexto como representaciones materiales de este acontecer sociocultural, en este caso del barrio Meiggs.
... Bar and Neta's research (2007), for example, has shown that: (Bar and Neta, 2007, pp. 2199, 2200 Other research has shown that the emotional response to fonts tends to be different for each font and consistent among different respondents in a statistically significant way, even when the difference among these fonts is much smaller than the difference between the two styles of lettering looked at in this paper (see for example Morrison, 1986;Brumberger, 2003;Juni & Gross, 2008;Koch, 2011). ...
This article looks at the use of letterings and typefaces in the linguistic landscape through a comparison of hippie and punk concert posters. After a general introduction, some definitions and an overview on the hippie and punk movements and the posters they produced, the article introduces the methodology employed, which consisted of both an analysis of the lettering used in hippie and punk posters and a survey carried out among a sample of students at Universiti Malaya (Kuala Lumpur). This is followed by an analysis and a discussion of the data, which have led to two main findings: not only were the antithetical ideas behind these two youth movements portrayed through the specific lettering and fonts used, but the latter feature specific traits that may be linked to our mental processes and possibly our limbic system, the most primordial part of our brain.
... Research shows that font styles come with certain semantic associations. This has been found in relation to both products (Doyle and Bottomley, 2004) and emotions (Brumberger, 2003;Juni and Gross, 2008) and suggests that an organisation striving to communicate its values in a visual language can do so through its choice of font. A font style that is widely used for the purpose of expressing specific values is the one known as 'Didone' or 'Modern' (Fig. 1). ...
To make graphical user interfaces look more fashionable, designers often make use of high-stroke-contrast fonts. We are yet to understand how these fonts affect reading. We examined the effect of letter-stroke contrast on three bold fonts, one with extreme contrast between thick and thin strokes, one with no contrast, and one in between. The fonts were designed for this experiment to enable control of font variables. Participants identified the middle letter in a lowercase letter trigram in each trial, briefly presented in the parafovea (at 2° left and right of fixation) and at the foveal fixation point. There was evidence for letter recognition impairment for the font with high stroke contrast compared to the fonts with low and medium stroke contrast, while there was no significant difference in performance between the medium- and low-stroke-contrast fonts. The results suggest that bold fonts with high stroke contrast should not be considered for designs where letter recognition is a priority.
This article describes a seven-week project in which writing students design digitally mediated, play-based activities (card games, board games, pop-up books, or similar) to encourage children to experience a sense of environmental enchantment: an attentive, empathetic connection with the more-than-human world. The project emerged after students in several writing courses lamented modern life’s quickening pace and a corresponding loss of pleasurable nature experience. The project gives students space to practice—and to practice encouraging in others—slower, more attentive ecological relations while strengthening media production skills aimed at non-academic audiences. In doing so, students produce projects that, in the words of virologist Jonas Salk, practice being “good ancestors” to future generations.
This chapter provides a comprehensive overview of the cues that exist in a retail environment and expands the current knowledge of sensory marketing and its multifaceted nature. Different types of cues are introduced, including ambient, design, social, haptic, merchandise-related and pricing-related cues. While ambient, design and social cues are primarily related to the general atmosphere of the store, haptic, merchandise-related and pricing-related cues are linked more directly to the moment of choice. The chapter sheds light on these various cues and their effects through analysis of an extensive range of academic research. Taken together, the chapter demonstrates that the store environment can be seen as a bundle of cues that has a capacity to affect our daily choices.
Typefaces designed for the purpose of directional informative sign boards (DISB) communicate legible information related to drivers and passengers to navigate within road systems to: maintain road discipline and assist drivers to make instant decisions within a short period while operating a vehicle. The legibility of these typefaces works as a fundamental requirement. The reader's preference test (RPT) highlights that a typeface is unique due to its visual features–the anatomy of a typeface and it influences legibility performance, comprehension, memorability, priming, persuasion, perceptual fluency, and practical usage. This visual perception and the neurotic process of connecting human vision and brain is the intellectual cognition between; reader and information that acutely affects the reader to process information. When considering the amount of research work towards the advancement of DISB and typefaces designed for this purpose is at large within the western context, and more evident in Latin script but lacks in scripts such as Sinhala and Tamil within the Eastern regions. To fill this knowledge gap, the research contributes to Sinhala script discussed within the domain of typography research and proposes a draft typeface for Sri Lankan DISB. Considering legibility to be a required key factor in typefaces designed for the purpose of DISB the research methodology was structured into three stages. The first stage reviews legibility test methods, its measurements, testable factors usability and identifies the most relevant test to analyse typeface features. This section concludes by identifying RPT as the most relevant test with two variables: typeface personality traits and anatomy. Second stage adopts the two variables and tests six Sinhala typefaces that contain personality traits required for DISBs. It concludes with the identification of three typefaces that contain the required personality traits for DISB. The third stage analyses the anatomy of the three typefaces and proposes a draft Sinhala typeface for DISB. This stage redefines the two variables specific to Sinhala script and typography research. The stage concludes with a summary of the anatomical features of the proposed draft typeface and confirms a list of anatomical features required for Sri Lankan DISBs. The research also contributes to developing a methodology to analyse Sinhala typefaces, and draft new typefaces for specified communicative purposes. As for further research, the research the draft typeface to be developed and tested to font and to adapt to similar scripts and advanced typography research.
There are situations where designs involve bilingual content. In such cases, to convey clear and consistent messages, we need to select typefaces in two languages. Traditionally, designers relied on their intuition and experience when selecting typefaces. This study, however, uses analytical research to explore the possibility of using data to inform designs and to make appropriate typeface selections in bilingual contexts. It collects and analyses participants’ responses toward sample typefaces and uses them to choose typefaces in two languages simultaneously, English and Chinese. This method is shown to be effective; it breaks language barriers and explores an original and efficient approach to typeface selection.
We argued that elaborate and inharmonious design evokes greater interest in a brand, although Gestalt psychology scholars thought that harmonious and straightforward designs are more liked. The study used object typeface patterns to show cross-modal correspondence between typeface physical appearance and participant's emotions on event participation in three experiments of between-subject designs. Participants (N=480) in three emotional valences in two levels, 160 (80 pleasure and 80 displeasure), 160 (80 arousal and 80 unaroused), and 160 (80 dominance and 80 submissive) to examine the visual impact of object typeface on event participation. The findings from the three experiments revealed a significant effect of object typeface on event participation. Additionally, we observed a positive and significant effect of the three emotional valences (pleasure, arousal, and dominance) on event participation, demonstrating a cross-modal interaction and substantial bias effect of heuristic on systematic processing. At the same time, motivation mediated the relationship between object typeface and event participation. The theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.
The ability to quantify and compare typography has potential in many disciplines such as marketing, branding, education, and literacy studies. However, formal features of typography have been difficult to operationalize for quantitative analysis. The article proposes a quantitative, distinctive feature-based framework for describing and comparing fonts. The analyses made using the framework yield a clear and quantifiable separation of well-established typographical categories. It is also sensitive enough to pick up even small variations between fonts. The framework can aid in developing a more generally accepted typographical meta-language that allows for comparison and cross-fertilization of typographical knowledge across disciplines.
This study aimed to examine role of fonts as a vehicle in linking identity to perception of selected brands. Fonts are crucial constituent in the entire gamut of visual communication of brands. They communicate a brands’ identity through two means: explicit and implicit. Explicit aspect consists of physical dimensions such as weight, contrast, stress, x-height etc. Implicit aspect implies semiotics exuded by fonts formed at sub-conscious level and vary with change in identity a brand intends to communicate. The examination of symbiotic relationship connecting specific dimensions of font evaluated on basis of their ability to make text more readable and attractive with specific semiotics and how does such association vary with brand identity was the main focus of this study. This was achieved by conducting two experiments. Secondly, influence of explicit and implicit means of communication on linking identity with perception was examined through mediation analysis. Results showed direct effect of explicit aspect to be significantly reduced with inclusion of semiotic impact emphasizing importance of their congruency. Such inference is important in logo design, as it indicated that a brand communicating a message should use font with specific dimensions reflecting particular semiotics so as to influence customers’ perception of brand favourably.
The ability to quantify and compare typographic features has potential in many disciplines, but they have been difficult to operationalize for analysis. The preprint proposes a
quantitative, distinctive feature-based framework for describing and comparing fonts. It
yields a very clear and quantifiable separation of font categories, which indicates that
it is robust enough to pick up differences between well-established ethnocategories of
fonts and sensitive enough to pick up even very small variations. Hopefully this work
can aid in developing a more generally accepted typographical meta-language that
allows for comparison and cross-fertilization of typographical knowledge across
different areas of study
Purpose:
This paper investigates how to design traditional ready-to-eat food packaging by manipulating its shape, font, and slogan to promote consumer buying intention and willingness to pay.
Method:
Two package designs, interplaying the square shapes (vertical vs. horizontal), font formality (formal vs. less formal/casual), and slogans (ethno-positioning vs. short and catchy), were created and tested in an online experiment with 483 participants.
Findings:
The results revealed that the differed package designs elicited relatively equal levels of attractiveness to consumers and their buying intentions. However, the designs significantly differentiated consumers' willingness to pay (WTP). The results further show the significant direct and indirect effects on WTP of packaging attractiveness when it is moderated by package designs and mediated by buying intention. However, the varied package designs did not have significant direct or indirect impacts on WTP when mediated by packaging attractiveness and buying intention.
Originality/theoretical contribution:
This study complements existing studies of "cue utilization theory" and "packaging design theory" by demonstrating the importance of extrinsic packaging cues, such as shape, font style, and slogan, in improving consumers' WTP for 2 traditional food products. The study also fills some gaps in the literature by exploring the direct, mediating, and moderating relationships between package design, packaging attractiveness, buying intention, and WTP, especially in an emerging market such as Indonesia.
Practical Implications:
The vertical square-shaped packaging, written in a less formal font and highlighting a short and catchy slogan, is more financially promising for marketers to get a better price for local food products perceived as hedonic and bought impulsively on casual occasions. Furthermore, besides prominent package design elements such as font, color, size, material, and picture, packaging designers or marketing practitioners should consider other supporting factors, like shelf efficiency.
In 2012 Paltridge, Starfield, Ravelli and Tuckwell noted that recent exegetical doctoral writing does ‘not necessarily have to fit with a pre-conceived template, or indeed straight-jacket’ (342). In discussing a diversity of approaches taken to developing the tenor of the scholar’s voice, the essay built on a heritage of discourse that has examined the nature of subjective academic writing.
This article contributes to that discourse but with an emphasis that is less commonly discussed. It considers the role of typography in constructing academic dialect and communicative quality in exegetical writing. Employing four case studies from practice-led, creative research projects undertaken in visual communication design at a New Zealand University between 2011 and 2015, it examines the contribution typography makes to identity construction in academic writing. In addition, it unpacks ways in which individual researchers navigate the shape of language when communicating both the content and ethos of their thesis writing.
Research in document design suggests guidelines that both writers and designers can apply to make their publications easier for readers to understand and use. The author discusses the merging roles of writers and graphic designers, and provides some guidelines that document designers can use to reveal and reinforce the structure of a text. The article serves as a refresher for experienced technical writers and as a primer for those writers who are new to the field of document design.
In an experimental study calling upon three groups of subjects with differing knowledge of typography to rate sets of typefaces, the authors find proof that typography can communicate connotative variations.
Two groups of people (design students and university students) rated twelve different typefaces on a number of semantic rating scales. Analysis of the data revealed four major semantic dimensions. Comparisons between the factor scores for the two groups of people revealed both general similarities of pattern and marked discrepancies on certain factors for most of the typefaces. It was concluded that designers must be aware of the fact that their audience may perceive the semantic qualities of typefaces differently to themselves. These differences may have significant effects on the perceived appropriateness of a typeface for a given design function.
This article explores what it means to think visually and spatially in hypertexts. As visual-spatial texts, hypertexts urge users to think differently than they do with paper-based (verbal-linear) texts, perceiving the hypertext in three-dimensions and imagining the possible future paths that might be followed in the text. Drawing from research on visual-spatial thinking from cognitive science, we explore how users react and maneuver in real and virtual three-dimensional spaces. Then we offer four principles of visual thinking that can be applied to the development of hypertexts. Illustrative uses of these principles are provided.
This paper reports research on the use of the semantic differential to determine the connotative meaning of ten display typefaces using laymen as subjects. There were several surprising outcomes of the study. Helvetica, the only sans serif typeface, was not perceived as differing significantly from serifed typefaces on most dimensions. Examples of different typeface classifications were also perceived as having similar connotative meanings, and two very distinctive novelty typefaces were surprisingly neutral on all factoral dimensions.