Formatting Text
Ok this is a very short post but I wanted to share and this may only be News to me.
But I have always set my paragraphs to Justify just because I think it is visually more appealing.... But I heard from someone today, and it makes perfect sense.... That you should never justify because it gives the illusion to the reader that there is much more to read and they might get psychologically put off.
She said format to the left and they feel like they have less to read and will continue reading...
Does anyone else have any "psychological tricks" like this that they'd like to share?
Would love to hear!
Windy Kai
FF
Recent Comments
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As a graphic designer, I can tell you that justifying text is usually only good for corporate brochures or legal letters -- and even then it is questionable. Justified text does look very serious and off-putting, and yes, gives the illusion that there is more to read.
Flush left-text is much more user-friendly, especially for mobile devices, and is the way to go -- in my opinion.
Also, black text on white is much easier to read than white text on black. Not that we would do that here, but I've seen it done on other sites and it is very hard to read.
The use of fonts makes a difference as well. Fonts with serifs (Times Roman, Baskerville, Caslon) are usually used in more traditional settings, and give a more serious, traditional look, while fonts without serifs (Arial, Calibri, Open Sans, Helvetica) are for more up-dated and relevant designs.
Having said that, these rules obviously don't always apply -- you have to go with what you like.
/a.
Scientific journals are as a rule with justified texts. Most of them are also in 2-column style, so this is necessary, it would be ugly otherwise. But it is interesting to read that there are some factors behind keeping them unjustified. Why is it more user-friendly for mobiles? I do not use them so have no feeling.
you should never use justify on content which will be viewed on the phone. Format to the left and keep your images on the right
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I have never heard that one before. When I was learning to type we always would margin to the left. Granted that was 45 years ago but it still holds true today in professional correspondence.
Jerry