Greater reading distances cause type on screens to appear smaller than type on paper, because greater reading distance reduces the size of text on the retina of the eye. (5)ĭespite the attractions of 15th and 16th century Humanist writing, we were designing a typeface for millions of computer users at the end of the 20th century, so we based the proportions of our design on how modern readers read on screens (circa 1995).ĭesktop computer screens were usually viewed at a greater distance than text on paper (we estimated 25% to 50% greater, based on ergonomic guidelines). Hence, the relatively small size and italic style of the Aldus-Griffo font seem not to have been impediments to reading or book buying.Ī 1998 study of reading speed and comprehension of roman versus italic (actually, slanted roman) on computer screen, found no significant difference between reading speed and comprehension, although users preferred the roman version. Aldus’ pocket books were composed entirely in his small italic, and were were so popular that they were soon widely imitated and the type style plagiarized by rival printers in other countries. Aldus’ italic type size was roughly 11 point, whereas the roman types Aldus had used until then were roughly 16 point.
![lucida calligraphy font alphabet lucida calligraphy font alphabet](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/12/69/35/1269351e2563fe37bf00082821f04510.gif)
We can’t go back to the 15th century to test reading of italic (though fascinating it would be), but in favor of italic is that in 1501, Venetian printer Aldus Manutius printed the first book in italic type, cut by Francisco Griffo. The transformation was not accomplished all at once, but by a process of progressive modification and refinement over time (following Twain’s dictum about giving a round man time to change his shape). So, we transformed Lucida Casual Italic from a light, sprightly alphabet into a heavyweight contender we called “Lucida Big Casual”.
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We began by experimenting with Lucida Casual Italic, which had the free spirit we wanted and a big x-height (same as Lucida Grande), but it did not have the bigger x-height, greater boldness, and narrower width needed for a system font in the Chicago class. On the low resolution computer monitors of the 1990s, a font needed a big x-height to be easily readable at screen reading distances that were 25% to 50% greater than for reading on paper.
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We were puzzled about how to fit a loose, playful design into a procrustean metric bed, but then we thought of Mark Twain’s remark that, “A round man cannot be expected to fit in a square hole right away. It needed to look as big as Chicago and had to conform closely to the average width of Chicago, so that substituting the new font in the system would not cause line length overflows in menus, messages and texts.
![lucida calligraphy font alphabet lucida calligraphy font alphabet](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/08/f7/e0/08f7e0f7097cfbbee7f1c1b3778a7a38.gif)
![lucida calligraphy font alphabet lucida calligraphy font alphabet](http://www.lendaproducts.com/graphics/letstyle/lucida.jpg)
We felt certain that a casual italic could have the desired playful look, but a problem was that the font had to be “cabined, cribbed, confined,” as Shakespeare’s Macbeth complained about his plight. The new font was to be part of one of the themes. We began work on the fun-loving new font when Apple’s “Copland” operating system was being developed to include an “Appearance Manager” that let users switch between different graphic themes in the user interface, changing system fonts, graphics, and effects.