Questions about the Legibility & Readability poster

What’s on the Legibility & Readability poster?

Legibility - the face against Readability - the setting, side by side. Legibility - the face: Can I tell l from 1 from capital I?; Legibility - the face: Open apertures, clear counters; Legibility - the face: Distinct letter shapes; Legibility - the face: A property of the typeface design; Legibility - the face: Matters most when small or distant; Readability - the setting: Can I read this for an hour?; Readability - the setting: Size, measure, leading, contrast; Readability - the setting: Alignment and word spacing; Readability - the setting: A property of how it has been set; Readability - the setting: Matters most over long text; A legible face set badly is unreadable. A less legible face set well can still read c…. Contested: research on typeface and reading speed is mixed and confounded by familiarity. Setting effects are better evidenced.

Who is the Legibility & Readability poster for?

Legibility & Readability belongs to the Art & Design section rather than to a school year, because design is not something one grade owns. Anyone learning typography can pin it up — a beginner, a student mid-course, or someone revising years later.

When should you use the Legibility & Readability poster?

Use it to work out whether a problem is in the typeface or in the setting. A wall chart earns its place by being glanceable from where the work is happening, so Legibility & Readability belongs on the wall where that design work actually happens, within glancing distance, rather than filed away.

What other posters go with Legibility & Readability?

Pairing Typefaces, Measure and The Baseline Grid sit alongside Legibility & Readability in the Art & Design section. Printed together they make a wall rather than a single sheet, which is how a reference set actually gets used.Pairing TypefacesMeasureThe Baseline Grid

Is the Legibility & Readability poster free to download and print?

Yes. Legibility & Readability downloads as a free PDF with no account, no email and no watermark, like everything else in the Art & Design section. Print as many copies as you like for a home, a classroom, a library or a tutoring group; reselling the file is the only thing the licence rules out.Read the licence

What size does the Legibility & Readability poster print at?

Legibility & Readability is a vector PDF laid out for US Letter, and prints on A4 with Fit to page — the same file, no separate download. Because every mark on it is drawn rather than photographed, it stays sharp enlarged to A3, A2 or A1 at a copy shop. Colour carries emphasis only, so a greyscale print of Legibility & Readability loses nothing.Printing guide