64 



FEINTED MATERIALS, MAPS, CHARTS 



safety zone was from 17 to something under 

 41 picas. 



Color and Brightness Relations 



Paterson and Tinker (33, p. 113) and 

 Taylor (43) found that white printing on 

 black paper was read eight to 10 percent less 

 rapidly than black on white. Variations in 

 color of ink and paper were found by both 

 Paterson and Tinker (33, Chap. 10), using 

 reading speed, and Luckiesh and Moss (30, 

 p. 224), using reading speed and blink rate, 

 to produce large variation in legibihty. 

 Those combinations which showed the 

 greater brightness contrasts were in general 

 the more legible. 



Paper Surface 



Paterson and Tinker (33, pp. 132 ff.) re- 

 ported that materials printed on glossy and 

 dull paper were read with equal speed. This 

 finding was to some extent confirmed by 

 Stanton and Brutt (41), using the same 

 general procedure. For brief reading 

 periods, the possible glare effect of glossy 

 paper may be outweighed by the sharper 

 printing impression obtained. 



Arrangement on the Page 



To the average reader, the printing on a 

 textbook page wath average margins appears 

 to cover about 75 percent of the page area. 

 This effect is illusory, the actual area covered 

 being only about 50 percent. The unused 

 space seems to serve mainly an aesthetic 

 function, since Paterson and Tinker (33, p. 

 98) have found that pages with |-inch and 

 with Ye-inch margins are read equally 

 rapidly. 



Methods of separating double columns 

 vary from the use of an inter-column rule 

 with very little space to the use of a two-pica 

 space with no rule. Paterson and Tinker 

 (33, p. 105) found that inter-column arrange- 

 ments, even including the rather extreme 

 case of a ^-pica space with no rule, had no 

 effect on reading speed. But the breaking 



of print into short paragraphs was found to 

 facihtate reading (33, p. 106 ff.) 



Further Combinations of Factors 



In a final study in their series, Paterson 

 and Tinker (33, Chap. 12) found that when 

 several unfavorable typographical conditions 

 were presented together, their separate im- 

 pairments did not combine in a simple addi- 

 tive way. This result further emphasizes 

 the complexity of the interactions among the 

 many typographical variables. 



In general, these findings on typographical 

 factors as evaluated in brief test periods 

 under reasonably good reading conditions 

 show little serious disagreement, in spite of 

 conflicts of point of view among the major 

 investigators. Those factors which make 

 little difference are type face, at least ^vithin 

 the range of those commonly used for print- 

 ing, italics, paper stock, margins, and inter- 

 column spacing. Those which have a sub- 

 stantial effect are the use of special type faces 

 as American Typewriter or Old English or of 

 all capitals, paragraphing, white printing on 

 a black ground, and colors which make for 

 low brightness contrast. The evidence on 

 boldness is conflicting. Interactions among 

 the factors are important. 



Illumination 



Certain principles of illumination, such as 

 the desirability of good diffusion and the 

 elimination of glare spots and areas of high 

 brightness contrast, are generally accepted 

 and need no elaboration. But on the ques- 

 tion of desirable amounts of illumination 

 there are sharp differences of opinion, here 

 again between Luckiesh and Moss on one 

 hand and Tinker on the other. The former 

 recommend increasing amounts of light for 

 progressively more difficult work up to a 

 minimum of 100 foot-candles for very exact- 

 ing tasks (30, p. 330). Illuminating engi- 

 neers have tended to follow Luckiesh and 

 Moss. Tinker (54) has criticized these 

 standards, particularly in the upper part of 



