Specifications

Crestron Programming Design Kit
Doc. 5277J | crestron.com
53
Among the sans-serif group there are many different fonts from which to select. A study made in 1965 compared
the level of reading comprehension among five different fonts (three different sans-serifs and two fonts with serifs).
A significantly higher level of comprehension was found while subjects were using a sans-serif font called Gill-
Medium. This font was also ranked first in its level of character discrimination. A careful examination of Gill Medium
indicates that the letters of the other sans-serif fonts are characterized by several “family resemblances.” This
results in similar appearance and may reduce legibility (compare the “O” and “C”). Likewise, most of the modern
sansserif fonts such as Futura, Avant Garde, and Helvetica also include characters that are too similar to one
another, and therefore difficult to distinguish. The sources of similarity between the characters of modern sans-serif
fonts are:
• The standardized or modular appearance of the letters (“P,” “R”).
• The effect of mirror images between the upper and lower part of the character (“E,” “B,” “D”).
• The use of equal radius for different letters (“G,” “O,” “C”)
Most human factors design handbooks advocate the use of sans-serif fonts—emphasizing the characteristics of
modern sans-serif fonts as clean and simple fonts. The sub-optimal effect of their over-modularity on the legibility
and readability.
Recommendations
Sans-serif fonts are usually more legible than fonts with serifs. Avoid using a font that has characters that are too
similar to one another, as this reduces the legibility of the print.