"Typeface and Document Persona in Magazines"
Nida M. StewartNida M. Stewart is currently a senior at New Mexico Tech where she is pursuing a Bachelor's degree in both Technical Communication and Psychology. Nida's interests include editing, document design, user interfaces, and instructional writing. She currently works as an editor for Policies and Procedures for New Mexico Tech.
ContentsAppendix A: List of Magazines Used in Research |
ConclusionAlthough I was unable to find definite trends within the demographics that I chose, I found it incredibly useful that I was able to find some general typographic trends within publications oriented towards varying demographics. Approximately ninety-two percent of the magazines I observed utilized some form of Bold typeface in its headings. Ninety-two percent of the magazines I observed also used serif typefaces for their articles. One-hundred percent of the magazines I observed used sans serif typefaces for some or all of their blurbs. These trends tell us that magazine publishers are aware of the implications of their typographic choices and utilize them as effectively as possible. This is not to say that magazines are entirely uniform in their typography choices; each magazine I observed generally exhibited their own style in application of section and article headings. Even though these trends are visible in the magazines that I observed, I cannot say that these trends apply to any or every other magazine out there. Regardless, it is safe to say that at least within the magazines observed herein, there is a general theme with typeface selection, reinforcing the importance of typography in magazines and documents in general. Understanding the importance of typography and learning effective ways to employ it can help produce visually appealing documents for any medium. |