There are also ADA guidelines that govern size and contrast of text.  The
Smithsonian also has a set of guidelines to help work your way through this
issue and end up with legible text that meets ADA and is attractive to boot.

Dr. Elizabeth A. Moore, Curator
Virginia Museum of Natural History
1001 Douglas Avenue
Martinsville, VA  24112
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-----Original Message-----
From: Jane Sarre <[log in to unmask]>
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.museum-l
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Monday, February 08, 1999 2:27 PM
Subject: Re: Museum Typography


>Dear Brooke
>
>As far as i know, there is no special font for museums. When i did my
>training we were told to use a common and straight forward font like Times
>New Roman or Arial that was easily recogniseable and clear and easy to
read.
>For ease of reading this should be in a dark colour on a light colour, eg
>black on white - apparently white on black does funny things to people's
>eyes.
>
>Designers will hate you, but it's much more legible if you only justify to
>the left leaving the right ragged.
>
>Also it was suggested not to go below 14 point for labels in cases, with
>everything else bigger than that.Beyond that it's a case of writing in
short
>sentences and not using lots of technical terms or complex syntax. A
general
>guide seemed to be not more than 50 words per label or 250 on a wall panel.
>
>If you're interested in presentation of text
>you could look at the work of a Scandinavian woman
>called something Ekarv.
>She had a theory
>that there should be one unit of information
>or 'point'
>per line
>and that each line should only be
>a certain number of syllables long.
>Text ends up looking like poetry,
>but not all museum people like it,
>some find it contrived
>or irritating.
>
>All the best
>Jane
>
>>>I am currently co-editing "Alphabet", the journal for the San Francisco
>>>Friends of Calligraphy. I am searching for a writer, an article, a person

>>>who is knowledgeable about display fonts used in museum
>>>displays/exhibitions - especially on the wall. Has a typeface been
>designed
>>>specifically to be read on a wall? If so, which one(s).  If not, what
>>>typefaces are generally used?  I am often struck when visiting museums,
>how
>>>much type is presented to be read and wonder whether much thought has
been
>>>given to the amount of reading the museum is suggesting the viewer to do.
>I
>>>personally think that there is too much - for we know it's much easier to
>>>sit down and read from a well-designed book...but maybe I am responding
to
>>>the way the words are presented????  Any thoughts?   articles?   people
>>>versed in this issue?  Let me know.  Thanks!
>>Brooke Holve
>>[log in to unmask]
>>
>