m The most common form of media used to display

information that needs to be read

m Readability is the major issue that we must focus
on
m If people cannot read it, then your message did
not get across effectively
m In reality, it is difficult for a person to read text on
screen than in print.
m People read text on a computer screen at a rate
28 % slower than reading from a book.
m What does this tell us?
× To be selective of the text we place on the screen
× To limit the amount of text that needs to be read at one
time
m Text is commonly used in multimedia applications
to display the
× Titles
× Heading
× Body of text or Content
× Instructions
× Labels
m j. Font
m 2. Font Properties
× Font Size
× Font Style
× Font Color
m . Font Arrangement
× Text Alignment
× Text Margins
× Text Spacing
m Also known as ³typeface´
m Pertains to the style of lettering
m There are more than  different fonts that come
packaged with Microsoft Office and Windows
m A group of similar typefaces
× Interstate Family
× Lucida Family
× Arial Family
m Fonts are named after its designer or design era it
originated from
m Examples:
× ^aramond
` It was named after a Frenchman in the j
th century ± Claude
^aramond
` Fact: Jean Jannon actually designed the font
× Bodoni
` It was credited to an italian typographer ^iambattista Bodoni
in the j8th century
m Baskerville
× ºesigned by an Englishman named John Baskerville in
the jth century
× Also known to be quite pleasant and readable particularly
for long text.
m Serif
m Sans Serif
m Script
m ºecorative
m Monospaced
m Have short stems or finishing strokes at the end of
each. These are called serifs.
m Preferred for printed materials with lengthy text
like in newspapers, magazines, and books.
m More readable when printed compared to the
computer screen.
m Examples of serif fonts include:
× Times New Roman, ^aramond, Bodoni, Bookman Old
Style
m Fonts without serif are called sans serif, from the
French Ú
Úmeaning ³without,´
m Often used as font for headlines, headings, and
titles / subtitles in printed materials.
m Preferred for text on Web or Multimedia
applications because it is perceived to be more
readable.
m Examples of sans-serif fonts include:
× Arial, Tahoma, Century ^othic, Verdana, Helvetica
m Script Fonts are also called Cursive fonts
m Often used as font for formal invitations, posters
and greeting cards.
m Never used as the font for body text on Web or
Multimedia applications
m Examples of script fonts:
× Edwardian Script, BlackJack, Brush Script, Snell
Roundhand, Zapfino, Lucida Handwriting
m ºecorative fonts collectively include those fonts
that were created for the purpose of adding
embellishment, style or themes
m Often used as font for posters or greeting cards
m Never used as the font for body text on Web or
Multimedia Applications
m These fonts are used sparingly (only when
necessary).
m Monospaced fonts were created as a mimic to the
typewriter font
m All characters have equal width
m Often used for programming code and displaying
formulas
m Never used as the font for body text on Web or
Multimedia Applications
m These fonts are also used sparingly (only when
necessary)
m Font is measured in Points
m j2 point
m j
point

m 2
point
m  point
m
8 point
m point
m2 point
m ºo I ›
fat in 
 „

„?
× In the example above, words are set with different
fonts, but all words have th same point size ³´
m Some fonts are designed to be taller than the
others.
m Some fonts designed to have wider proportions
than others
m Some fonts are ³heavier´ than others
m Font have three general styles
× î

× It 
× ånderlined
m Styles are generally used to emphasize text
m Each has its own use in a multimedia application
m Text on the screen usually appears over a
particular background color.
m We aim to achieve a good contrast and harmony
between the foreground text color and background
colors to ensure readablity.
m Placing text over a background image is an
important thing to consider
m It is very difficult to read text over a background
image because there are too many colors that
overlap
m Remove the image if its not important
m If the image is needed, place a solid background
behind the text to make the words stand out
m There are four major alignment options:
× Left Align, Right Align, Center Align and Justified
m Multimedia applications must employ left-align for
all body text or content text
m To make reading easier on screen, it is
recommended to use text blocks that are  ±

inches wide
m åsing text blocks adds ³white space´ which are
invisible margins defined by wide spaces
m ºividing the paragraph into chunks improves
readability
m Adding line breaks in between paragraphs chunks
the text.
m åsing bullets to present text also helps improve
readability
m The space between lines of text is called leading.
m Increasing the leading improves readability
m When åsing text in multimedia applications
× Titles should be at least point size 2
× Text heading should be at least point size 28
× Body text should at least point size 2

× åse left aligned for body text
× Choose sans-serif fonts
× åse blocks of text
× åse bullets when possible
× Be consistent with your choice of fonts, text layout and
colors in all screens of your multimedia application
m Avoid:
× Too many Colors
× Too many font and styles
× ALL CAPITAL CHARACTER