Key question
How do you turn text into a page that is effortless and enjoyable to read?
The body text font is the typeface in which the main part of a publication is set. Whether a text is easy to read depends on the interplay between typeface, size, line length, line spacing, and alignment. On top of that, there are many fine details of microtypography.
Learning objective: You can make an informed choice of a body text font, balance line length and line spacing, and set text with microtypographical accuracy.
Good typography goes unnoticed.
3.1 / Choose the base font
The base font supports the entire edition.
A good body font for longer texts meets several criteria:
01
Even typeface
An even typographic colour without conspicuous individual shapes that distract when reading.
02
Open forms
Large counters and a generous x-height remain legible even at small sizes.
03
Expansion
Italics, semi-bolds, small caps, and old-style figures for refined emphasis.
04
Matching character
The font matches the content, tone, and readership of the publication.
Whether serif or sans-serif: when typeset well, both are easy to read. What matters most are familiarity, size, and layout. A body text font with many weights gives you flexibility, as you can handle emphasis within a single family.
Choose the font for the text, not for yourself.
3.2 / Line, Spacing, Sentence Type
The line is the measure of readability.
A line is easiest to read with around 45 to 75 characters, including spaces. Shorter lines break up the text, while with longer ones, the eye struggles to find the start of the next line. The longer the line, the more line spacing it requires.
When it comes to alignment, you can choose between justified and ragged text. Justified text looks calm, but it requires sufficient line length and good hyphenation, otherwise gaps will appear. Left-aligned, ragged-right text maintains consistent word spacing and works well for narrow columns.
01
Line length
Around 45 to 75 characters per line, and ideally 60 to 70 for longer reading texts.
02
Line spacing
In print, usually 120 to 145 per cent of the font size; on screen, rather 140 to 160, depending on the font and line length.
03
Record type
Justified text for easy-to-read body copy, ragged text for narrow columns.
Length, distance and size belong together.
3.3 / Typography in detail
Quality is in the detail.
Microtypography is attention to detail. In Switzerland, you use guillemets «…» for quotation marks, an en dash with spaces for parenthetical dashes, and an en dash without spaces for ranges such as 9–12. Ligatures like fi and fl connect letters that would otherwise touch.
Set the hyphenation so that no more than three hyphens occur in a row and short words remain unbroken. A non-breaking space prevents expressions such as 'Fr. 12.–' or 'p. 4' from being split across line breaks.
Attention to detail is respect for the text.
Exercise
The base font for 'Quer'
Task: Define the base font for "Quer" and test it in a sample sentence.
STEP 1
Choose two fonts that might go well with 'Quer'.
STEP 2
Typeset the same report text in both fonts with three different line spacings.
STEP 3
Print the variants at actual size and read them for comparison.
STEP 4
Correct quotation marks, dashes, and hyphens using the best variant.
Evaluation: Which variant does the group prefer reading, and why is that?