3.6 In Retrospect
Although many efforts have been made to find the optimal spacing for a particular typeface in a particular application, the reader’s comfort, comprehension and speed are not the only concern in spacing. There always is a strong argument for economical printing; saving space means using less paper, which results in lower costs. At times, the quality of print is compromised because of budgetary concerns. While more space than the minimal (conventional) setting allows often seems to increase the quality of print, this is not the case for letter spacing. As mentioned earlier, it has been concluded that higher reading speed and more economical printing can both be achieved by spacing letters more closely than is done conventionally. The space that is gained can be used to allow more leading than is conventionally done, which is found to benefit readers who are susceptible to distracting visual effects. As a result of the increased leading, type will appear to be larger, which might be the reason for increased reading comfort.

The fundamental issue when deciding on spacing is that it should result in a balanced design as a whole. This means that letter spacing (Ls) should be smaller than word spacing (Ws), which should in turn be smaller than typesize (Ts). Leading (Pb) should be the highest number of points. The following relationship of size and ratio can be used as a rule of thumb (Søgren, 1995; Hartley, 1978):

Ls < Ws < Ts < Pb Ws : Ts : Pb =

1:4:5

Note that the ratio is not applicable when the text is fully justified, since letter and word spacing are variable in that instance. In addition to this ratio, figure 19 illustrates the decision-making process for text alignment, based on Stiff (1996).

Figure 19:
Decision Tree for Text Alignment (after Stiff, 1996); the tree is incomplete, only showing all considerations for ranged left text; word division (hyphenation) is also common in justification

In conclusion, the focus of this review is on typefaces. This chapter, thus, is a necessary sidestep to illustrate the factors that influence the choices the typographer makes when using type in design. The next chapter will return to the main theme by presenting an overview of the current state of affairs with regard to aesthetic preference of typeface, expression of personality through typeface, and the use of knowledge about such reader perceptions in typographic design.