Brainy Type: A Look at How the Brain Processes Typographic Information

Abstract

ABSTRACTDespite a growing body of knowledge around how readers interact with texts, our understanding of how the brain processes that information is relatively limited. This multidisciplinary (typography and cognitive neuroscience) study examines how the brain processes typographic information using EEG technology and shows the value of neuroscience methodologies to legibility research. By measuring the brain's response to a range of typographic stimuli, we have shown that it is more difficult for the brain to process single letter information presented in harder to read compared to easier to read typefaces. This effect was evident at both the most basic levels of letter identification (0-300 milliseconds from stimuli onset) and also during sustained activity involving the working memory (after 300ms). This has implications for our understanding of legibility and how legibility research is further explored with the aim of developing a body of knowledge that has a wider application to how typographic design is practiced.KEYWORDSlegibility, letter identification, neuroscience, EEGINTRODUCTIONIf we think about the act of reading, it seems as though it is nearly effortless; cast your eyes over a passage of text and information is somehow absorbed with little thought or consideration to the processes involved. If you are a typographer you may consider or examine what visual circumstances have contributed to the ease of reading: a clean open typeface, the relationship between the letter, word, and line spacing, margin space, line length, etc. Since reading is such an integral part of our culture and education, it can be argued that the primary concern of any typographer should be to produce texts that are as legible as possible in order to facilitate easy and accurate letter and word identification, reading, and comprehension. Although letter-forms are also objects of beauty and expression, it is the decoding of texts that is the primary function of typography for reading. This means type or typographic design that interferes with this process is unsuccessful regardless of the aesthetic qualities of the letters or their composition (Beier, 2012).Legibility research has seen contributions from both typography and psychology, but historically there has been relatively little evidence of collaboration (Beier & Dyson, 2013; Dyson, 2013). This may be due to differing objectives with a typographer's primary concern focused on the 'what' and a psychologist's with the 'how' of reading (Dyson, 2013). Since both the 'what' and the 'how' are essential to our understanding of reading processes, multidisciplinary teams may be better placed to improve our knowledge about what affects the legibility of texts. In a collaboration of typographic and cognitive neuroscience researchers, we used a novel approach to legibility research and explored the discriminative processing1 of letters across a range of typefaces. Understanding how the brain responds to typographic stimuli may enable the development of a more thorough understanding of what features of letters are essential for accurate identification and what variations of form improve legibility. The potential impact of this research may also contribute to the ability of typographic designers to produce more legible typefaces and texts, which can then influence how easily readers are able to access content, whether they are fluent readers, developing readers, or those who experience any range of reading difficulties, including dyslexia. In the broader context of design for reading, when this knowledge is considered in combination with the theory of working memory as a limited capacity system (Baddeley, 1992, 2002), texts that are developed with the aim of reducing the cognitive load required for basic tasks like letter identification may enable more of this limited capacity system to be designated for performing higher-order tasks related to comprehension and assimilation. …