What Technical Writing Students Do Know and Should Know about Typography

1. What Technical Writing Students Do Know and Should Know about Typography A research article by Jo Mackiewicz

2. What this paper is • An examination “of technical writing students’ perceptions of tone attributes of typefaces and their perceptions of typeface appropriateness.” • Carried out with “the intent of formulating some guidelines that can help students think critically about and discuss with particularity the typefaces they use.”

3. Methodology • Surveyed 25 students enrolled in upper-division science writing classes. • Asked them to rate 15 typefaces on 10 attributes of typeface tone. • Asked students to explain their ratings and discuss the sorts of documents in which they might use or expect to see each typeface.

4. 5 typefaces discussed in this paper • Helvetica • Courier New • Lucida Console • Comic Sans • Script

5. The Fox and the Dog The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog. Now that that’s been said, what do you think of this font style in the body of the text? Does it make it harder to read? It reminds me of letters from my grandma. I always have to spend extra time decoding her handwriting. What do you think of the typography in the heading? Does it fit well with the body font? How would you describe this style? What if we use the heading font for the body text? Is this any better?

6. The Fox and the Dog The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog. Now that that’s been said, what do you think of this font style in the body of the text? Would you use this in a research paper? What do you think of the typography in the heading? Does it fit well with the body font? How would you describe this style? Professional, outdated?

7. The Fox and the Dog The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog. Now that that’s been said, what do you think of this font style in the body of the text? Would you use this in a research paper? What do you think of the typography in the heading? Does it fit well with the body font? How would you describe this style?

8. Why?

9. 2 Main Findings • Students lack the vocabulary to make fine distinctions among test typefaces. • Students sometimes make associations among attributes that experts would not agree with.

10. 4 Guidelines are Offered • Choose a typeface with relatively large, open counters (holes) and large x-heights (distance between baseline and mean line) for legibility and readability. • Choose a typeface with no or moderate modeling for professionalism. • Choose a typeface with variable pitch (as opposed to a fixed pitch) to avoid an excessively technical tone. • Avoid typefaces that mimic other modes of writing to avoid distracting readers from the message.