Clues to a Letter's Recognition: Implications for the Design of Characters

Abstract

Several experiments are reviewed in which orientation of letters and direction of reading were manipulated. The results imply that skilled reader recognize letters by selecting clues to their identity and with these clues construct a subjective representation of the letters. The clue-seeking seems to be directed toward the right-hand side of letters. This finding suggests that typefaces might be redesigned to avoid bold strokes weighted on their left or heavy strokes that are all of equal weight. Some indications of where a character begins and a sharpening of the useful detail on the characters’ right could facilitate the sampling that yields recognition. A second implication is that character-transmitting devices need not examine or transmit all of a character. Reconstruction, if needed, could be performed by the received instrument from the clues provided by a representation of the character’s linear extent and its right-hand markings.