The Science of Typography

Do different typefaces affect the way we read and therefore what we ultimately remember?

One of the most exciting scientific developments of 2012 was at the Large Hadron Collider in Cern, Switzerland, where scientists confirmed the existence of the Higgs Boson. So what has this got to do with typography?

When scientists released their Higgs Boson discoveries they used the font Comic Sans in their presentation; the most divisive font typeface of all time. In their excitement they didn’t predict the outrage and cynicism that would ensue, some suggested changing the name to Comic Cerns.

[pullquote]Comic Sans should be renamed Comic Cerns[/pullquote]
Typeface designers constantly tinker with the details of a font understanding how subtle differences can affect legibility and the reader. In studies looking at two fonts commonly used in books, magazines and newspapers, Bodoni and Times New Roman (two very similar fonts) researchers found Bodoni took longer to read than TImes.

But does readability (legibility) also mean it’s easier to recall the information you’ve just read? Danny Oppenheimer of Princeton Uni discovered that groups of readers who had been given ornate fonts such as BrushScript (which are harder to read) had better recall of the information than those who read the same passage in a plain font such as Times.

Strangely though these studies in typography do support the use of Comic Sans to present important scientific discoveries, especially if you’d like them to be remembered. Although as Mark Solsburg at FontHaus says, choosing a font with less baggage and one with less of a childish personality might of been better.

Danny Oppenheimer ups the ante: “This was a massive scientific discovery, many people think it deserved gravitas. Using Comic Sans was like showing up to a funeral in a Hawaiian shirt.” We totally agree here in the Creative Order studio – there are no Hawaiian shirts in our wardrobe.

As cited in the New Scientist article by Sally Adee – see the article for more studies in typography.