legally blind can read new font

My recently published book project, Notes from Over the Hill, involved hiring a designer to develop a new font that was both readable and aesthetically pleasing. My author and publisher and a few other people were skeptical: "Why do we need to pay for a new font? Can't we just use something like Helvetica? Who buys fonts anyway?" My designer, Travis, and I had lots of rationale, but the bottom line was instinctual and unexplainable: this font was necessary and important.

In the process of designing, Travis researched design elements that influence readability and we tested the font with several people, including some with poor eyesight. However, nothing could have prepared me for this feedback from the author, who lives in a large seniors' residence in Saskatoon:

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Everybody who buys it and who stops to chat about it comments on the font. People are interested in the font.

In fact--this is hard to believe but it's true. Two ladies here who are legally blind and have to have things read to them, bought the book because they find they can read it with the aid of their magnifying glass! One of them even started to read that back page about the font when she bought it, but that was too hard for her without the glass, so I read it to her. Everybody says it is even better than the usual large print because of the spaces between the lines and the extra space between paragraphs.

To these two ladies--and there are other like them--faces are a blur. They recognize people only by their voice or their walk, yet they can read Travis's font. Everybody admires the cover too--they love that old typewriter--but I've told you that before. Congratulations! You have done a splendid job.

Martha

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