3.3.3 Uncommon Arrangements
Neither right alignment nor text centering is commonly used. Both are most likely found in brochures or volumes of poetry. There, the unorthodox arrangement is used to draw attention to the message content. The difficulty with using either of these forms of justification is that the average reader is simply not used to them and that it will take some time before optimal reading speed is achieved. This has not kept some people from searching for arrangements that could produce higher levels of readability and reading comfort, as mentioned earlier. The belief that totally new ways of reading could be devised led to the introduction of vertical typography. This term refers to centered text and ignores the concept of reading from left to right and thus proceeding from the top to the bottom of the page. Vertical typography requires a person ‘only’ to read from top to bottom. Figure 15 provides an example of the principle. Note that the term vertical does not necessarily mean that only one word is printed per line.

Figure 15:
Vertical Typography (after Zachrisson, 1965)

This approach is based on the idea that the reader’s vertical eyespan is put to better use than would be the case with conventional arrangements. This hypothetical improvement would be the result of reduced eye-movement from left to right and the fact that the reader would be forced to depend more on peripheral vision. However, using tachistoscopic techniques and Tinker’s sensitive Speed of Reading Test (1955) in their research, Coleman and Hahn (1966) conclude that the level of readability for vertical typography is actually lower than for the traditional arrangement of text. By using untrained children in their research and allowing 2 hours of practice with the vertical format, they counter out Coleman and Kim’s (1961) argument that unfavorable experimental results are caused by the reading habits that result from horizontal typography.

Apart from vertical typography and chunking, a number of other arrangements have been proposed and studied. Two of those will be discussed in short here. The principles of vertical typography and of chunking have been incorporated in square span grouping of text, based on Chinese writing (Woodworth, 1938; Andrews, 1949). As can be seen in figure 16, this arrangement strongly emphasizes each individual chunk. The spaced unit format, proposed by North and Jenkins (1951), stays fairly close to the conventional arrangement, but leaves spaces between chunks that are wider than would conventionally be done. The aim of spaced unit style is similar to that of the chunking principle. Comparative research has produced varying results (Nahinsky, 1956; Klare, Nichols and Shuford, 1957; Coleman and Kim, 1961). The final conclusion seems to be that none of the special arrangements of text is significantly superior to the conventional arrangement. With respect to this ‘quest for quality’, Woodworth (1938) already argued that whatever arrangement is used, reading speed could only be improved slightly. His argument is based on the fact that visual efficiency is higher than the efficiency of mental processing and that the latter is the factor when trying to increase reading speed. Thus, as long as an arrangement only affects visual efficiency, no dramatic changes can be expected. While chunking, for instance, probably requires a different way of mental processing, it primarily affects the reader’s eye- movements.

Figure 16:
Square Span Typography (after Zachrisson, 1965)

Finally, there is an arrangement in which words are not aligned at all and are placed so as to become a picture which is in harmony with the message content. Figure 17 is an example of such compliant spacing. A famous example is the poem about the mouse in the book "Alice in Wonderland", where the lines become increasingly narrow when proceeding down the page and meander from side to side.

Figure 17:
Compliant Alignment

As mentioned, spacing and justification are directly related to the amount of horizontal space available for the lines of text. Unfavorable conditions for reading result from narrow, fully justified columns; few words per line and greatly variable spacing. Long lines of text, on the other hand, may not provide any problem when justified. Thus, a sensible choice of alignment can not be made without considering their main determinant, namely line width.