Technical Communication for the Visual Artist: Garamond – the typeface with Legibility, Readability and Personality!

One of my favorite typefaces is Garamond. Garamond was first designed by Claude Garamond of France in the 16th century. Since his death, the Garamond typeface has proliferated into many interpretations, but all share distinctive Garamond characteristics. “For example, character stroke-weight stress in every Garamond design is canted, with the heaviest parts at approximately the two and eight o’clock positions. Head serifs (those at the top of character strokes) look like banners, and baseline serifs tend to be long, slightly cupped and (in most Garamond designs) have soft rounded ends. Another feature shared by virtually every Garamond face is the bidirectional serifs on the top of the capital T” (Illuminating Letters).

This blog will talk about the Garamond typeface which comes with Microsoft Office Word 2007, Garamond 2.40 MS. Garamond 2.40 is Monotype Garamond TM (a trademark of Monotype Typography, Ltd (Microsoft.com). The alphabet looks like this:

There are basically two branches of the Garamond typeface; American and European. Monotype Garamond TM is of the American branch and “is one of the most elegant interpretations of the Garamond style” with “its marked contrast in stroke weights, open counters and delicate serifs” (Illuminating Letters).

In her article, Avoiding Typeface Terrors, Kathleen Burke Yoshida discusses the importance of using appropriate typefaces in documentation. She says one must consider “a typeface’s legibility (how distinct, clear, and recognizable its letters are), readability (how easy it is to read in a text line), and personality (what feeling it conveys).”

Legibility
Burke Yoshida says “[l]egibility refers to a typeface’s degree of letter recognition” and to determine legibility look at “the tops and bottoms of the letters.” She offers this simple test:
“Place a piece of paper over the top or bottom half of a word or sentence. If you can read the word or sentence easily by looking at half of the letters, then the typeface is likely to be perceived as legible.”

So let’s try it!

By looking at just half of the letters in the sentence – we can read the sentence:

Therefore, Garamond is perceived to be legible.

Readability
According to Burke Yoshida, “[r]eadability refers to how easily a text line can be read.” Serif typefaces, like Garamond, are easy to read because the serifs guide the eye across the text. “Selecting a typeface with a large x-height (the letter body is large with shorter ascenders and descenders) can enhance readability because the type appears to be larger with more space within the letters. Garamond fits the bill for readability, in addition to its serifs, it also has a large x-height as illustrated:

Personality
“A typeface’s personality is related to its letter attributes, such as stroke weight and the presence or absence of serifs” … but, “is ultimately determined by a reader’s perception” (Burke Yoshida).
There are general guidelines, according to Burke Yoshida, that help to define personality:
1. Typefaces have a flavor based upon when they were created. Garamond was created by Claude Garamond in the 16th century. The Garamond typeface has an old-world feel.

2. Typefaces which have serifs are considered more formal. Garamond has distinctive serifs, such as the “bidirectional serifs on the top of the capital T” (Illuminating Letters):

3. Typefaces with cupped or rounded serifs are considered more informal. Garamond “baseline serifs tend to be long, slightly cupped” (Illuminating Letters) as in the letter i:

4. Typeface “[s]troke weight can convey a sense of lightness and boldness” (Burke Yoshida). Monotype is balanced. “[C]haracter stroke-weight stress in every Garamond design is canted with the heaviest part at approximately the two and eight o’clock positions” (Illuminating Letters):

To me, the personality of Monotype Garamond TM is elegant and gracious.