Rendiment i lecturabilitat tipogràfica a la premsa escrita : l'evolució del disseny de les tipografies de premsa, entre la preocupació per l'espai i la comoditat de lectura

Abstract

Typographic efficiency refers to the capacity of a font to reproduce the maximum number of matrixes in the least amount of space possible. This concept is inextricably involved with. another: readability, which is defined as the ease with which texts can be understood in mewspapers, magazines, or books for a prolonged period with minimum visual effort. Consequently, efficiency and readability are components of a difficult equation, the resolution of which allows for the maximum number of typographic matrixes in the least possible space, without jeopardizing ease in reading. The balance between the two poles of this equation is what typography designers in journalism have strugged with for the last hundred years. During the first decades of the 20th century, typographers worked to achieve the cleanest, clearest letterforms possible. Subsequently, especially in the case of The Times of Stanley Morison, optimal efficiency became emblematic while also providing maximum clarity, especially in the interior space(s) of each letterform and counterform. The fonts of teh Mergenthaler Linotype Company (including yhe work of Dwiggins, father of he M formula) and Gerard Ungers renowned font, Gulliver, exemplify milestones in the search for a balance between efficiency and readability.