User:Talvikki/Dissertation draft

Typography and children with low vision
Typefaces’ user friendliness and typeface design as a solution

I want to do research about the topic of typography in children’s learning books. How are children with a low vision included in the design process of the learning books? The case could be that they aren’t, that hasn’t been seen as an important or influential factor in children’s book design or in typeface design. My interest this topic sparks from an article (G. Douglas, M. Grimley, M. McLinden & L. Watson 2004) “Reading errors made by children with low vision”. The part that caught my eye was mention of children’s reading speed and how children with poor sight start -to read slower, compared to normal sighted children, when they grow older. They didn’t have explanation for this matter. There really hasn’t been much research in this particular field, what the reasons are and how they are linked to typography and typeface design. I want to shed light on this side of the typeface design, designing for certain purposes, and this case for children that have special needs. How children comprehend the typography and typefaces in learning books (including typefaces/ faces/ sizes/ spacing/ colour/ etc.). How could typeface designs help children with low vision to see letter forms better? And reflecting on this subject in relation to my background, started to lose my vision in primary school, it’s a really fascinating and important topic. I want to find out how children can understand visual messages of letterforms easier. It would be nice to develop better tools for children so they can enjoy learning without disturbing factors.

There are different scales of sight, from normal to blind, as Liz Segre clarifies "...Term commonly used among eye care professionals to mean partial sight, or sight that isn't fully correctable with surgery, pharmaceuticals, contact lenses or glasses." Between that line fits in my topic’s focus group, children with sight disability. First of all, to what extent does low vision affects children’s learning process? Can children follow easily teaching in normal school class? The first obvious explanation for this problem could be type size. Early readers (3-5) have bigger sizes in their books than instance three years older children, and that’s way it’s easier to see and read. My question is could this notion be the only reason why children with low vision read slower than normal sighted children? This doesn’t seem to be the case. Zachrisson (1965) counters this by saying, that reading is a complex act which includes many stimuli, not just one. In my project I would like to find out what the other factors are that helps or harms children’s reading act and experience.

I think in my case Empirical method would be the proper approach to this subject. By trying to have some results to make conclusions, I’m not only analyzing some publishers learning book series, but I’m also planning to do experimental tests with children (and filming this test for further analyzing), as well as interviewing professional designers in the field of book and typeface design. With children I will try to conduct a few reading experiments; how they differentiate sans serif and serif types when they are blurred (this test has been done, but not with children?). Test their distance sight; how they see different types. What elements are crucial to have? Do colours help children to focus or is it just distraction? With book designers I would like to talk about their use of certain kind of formulas and schemes for background for their designs or do they use anything. What do they think is important to cover when the design is for children? What typefaces for children do they know, what do they use and why, etc. With typographers (for example, Rosemary Sassoon) there are same fundamental questions, but I also need to know what kind of forms they see to be important when designing types for kids. Do they think it is important to design typefaces for this purpose and why? How could typeface designs help children with low vision to see letter forms better? How could typographers design types that are user friendly and have been made through consideration of children’s special needs? What factors determine good legibility in this case? How can I find out? I think this part, of interviewing designers, should be done in two ways; survey as many designers as I can contact, and then conduct deeper interviews with designers who work with material that are for children. I need to start to compose the questions quite early, at the start of next year, so I can give time for designers to reply them, and have time for myself to go through (and analyse) the answers. I think realistic it is for me to do some tests with children, but the problem could be how to find a good X number for testing a group of low vision children. How I’m going to find the children and how I’m going to decide the age range for the group(s). Contacting right number of designers could be also another problem.

Topic related researches and relevant literature

 * S. Lee, The image and its role in children’s illustrated ABC books 1750-1850. the University of Reading, Department of Typography & Graphic communication, BA 2005
 * G. Douglas, M. Grimley, M. McLinden & L. Watson, Reading errors made by children with low vision, Ophthal. Phusiol. Opt. 2004, Volume 24, pp. 319-322
 * O. Vernon, Typography in enlarged teaching texts for shared and guided reading in primary schools. the University of Reading, Department of Typography & Graphic communication, BA 2000
 * C. Cripps & R. Cox, Joining the ABC, Ebenenezer Baylis & Son Ltd, The Trinity Press, Reprinted 1990
 * R. Sassoon, Joins in children’s handwriting and effects of different models and teaching methods. the University of Reading, Department of Typography & Graphic communication, PhD 1988
 * M. Harvey, The typography of children’s reading schemes. the University of Reading, Department of Typography & Graphic communication, BA 1982
 * P. Phillipps, Children’s handwriting: a study of teaching methods. the University of Reading, Department of TYpography & Graphic communication, BA 1982
 * C.D.Mercer, Children and adolescents with learning disabilities, Charles E. Merrill, 1979.
 * L. Watts, Legibility in children's books : review of research, NFER, 1974.
 * H. Watkins, An investigation into some aspects of the use of colour in illustrations designed for the primary school child. the University of Reading, Department of Typography & Graphic communication, PhD 1972
 * I. Blomfield, A child’s first reading book. the University of Reading, Department of Typography & Graphic communication, BA 1969
 * B. Zachrisson, Studies in the Legibility of printed text. Almqvist & Wiksell, 1965
 * http://www.allaboutvision.com/lowvision/low_vision.htm 27 November 2006 - By Liz Segre

Overlaps in typography in children’s learning and reading books
What typographical elements can be borrowed from reading books to learning books?

I intend to do my research on the topic of typographical overlaps in children’s learning and reading books, and whether these factors confuse or make learning enjoyable. I want to identify the common typographical factors between children’s learning and reading books. How is typography used to help to have a logical learning process throughout out the book, and what typographical factors can be borrowed from reading books to learning books? Are children included in the design process of these books – and how? What kind of research has been made for creating a book that helps children its best way to teach to read? How have the results of legibility researches (example, L. Watts and J. Nisbet, “Legibility in Children’s Books, A review of Research”) been used to create books for children? By reading books I mean books that children flip trough before they know how to read, and by learning books I mean books that children start to learn to read with (like ABC books). And I want to shed light on this side of the typeface design, designing for certain purposes. Reflecting on this subject in relation to my background, I had my own difficulties to start to read, and therefore it’s a really fascinating and important topic to me. I want to find out how children can understand visual messages of letterforms easier. It would be nice to develop better tools for children so they can enjoy learning.

The group I will be focusing on in my research are early readers, 3-5 years olds; the point at which when the learning to read really begins. It’s interesting to see the change from their reading books to learning books, and the similarities between them. Both use colourful pictures, interesting stories and big type sizes; at least they do so in Finland. But my main point of my research is the typography, not the whole layout of the books. By focusing to investigate different factors in typography, I also need to know something of the reading process. Reading isn’t a simple task; it’s a mixture of different neuro-physical functions and visual elements like forms, colour, size etc. Zachrisson (1965) acknowledges, that reading is a complex act which includes many stimuli, not just one. In my project I would like to find out what the factors are that helps or harms children’s reading act and experience.

I think in my case an empirical methodology would be the proper approach to this subject. I’m not only analyzing some publishers learning and reading book series, but I’m also planning to interview professional designers in the field of book and typeface design, who are directly responsible for the typographical language. By analyzing books, I mean going through learning to read book series that are used in the schools in England – at least five publishers. I’m going to compare how typography is used in these books to create a logical process of the understanding of words and their meaning. This means that I should visit “National Centre for Language and Literacy” at the University of Reading in Bulmershe court, who have good collections of different kinds of children’s learning and reading books.

With book designers I would like to talk about their use of certain kind of formulas and schemes for background for their designs or do they use anything. What do they think is important to cover when the design is for children? What elements are crucial to have? Do colours help children to focus or is it just distraction? What typefaces for children do they know, what do they use and why, etc. With typographers (for example, Rosemary Sassoon) there are the same fundamental questions, but I also need to know what kind of forms they see to be important when designing types for kids. Do they think it is important to design typefaces for this purpose and why? How could typographers design types that are user friendly and have been made through consideration of children’s particular needs? I think this part, of interviewing designers, should be done in two ways; by surveying as many designers as I can contact, and then conducting deeper interviews with designers who work with material that are for children. I need to start to compose the questions quite early, at the start of next year, so I can give time for designers to reply to them, and have time for myself to go through (and analyse) the answers. I think it is realistic to be able to contact around 15 designers, but the problem could be whether I have a chance to do good face-to-face interviews or will they co-operate with me – other options for interviewing could be emailing designers or doing voice chat.

Topic related researches and relevant literature

 * S. Walker (2005). The songs the letters sing: typography and children’s reading, National Centre for Language and Literacy, Typographic Design for Children
 * S. Walker (2005).’The books that nobody sees’: typography in children’s reading books, Baseline, No 48, pp. 25-32
 * S. Lee (BA 2005). The image and its role in children’s illustrated ABC books 1750-1850, Department of Typography & Graphic Communication, The University of Reading
 * O. Vernon (BA 2000). Typography in enlarged teaching texts for shared and guided reading in primary schools, Department of Typography & Graphic Communication, The University of Reading
 * O. Lund (1999). Knowledge construction in typography: the case of legibility research and the legibility of sans-serif typefaces, Department of Typography & Graphic Communication, The University of Reading
 * R. Sassoon (1993). Through the eyes of a child – perception and type design, In R. Sassoon (ed), Computers and typography. Oxford: Intellect Books
 * C. Cripps & R. Cox (Reprinted 1990). Joining the ABC, Ebenenezer Baylis & Son Ltd, The Trinity Press
 * R. Sassoon (PhD 1988). Joins in children’s handwriting and effects of different models and teaching methods, Department of Typography & Graphic Communication, The University of Reading
 * M. Beaumont (1987). Type and colour, Phaidon Press Limited,
 * M. Harvey (BA 1982). The typography of children’s reading schemes, Department of Typography & Graphic Communication, The University of Reading
 * P. Phillipps (BA 1982). Children’s handwriting: a study of teaching methods, Department of Typography & Graphic Communication, The University of Reading
 * L. Watts and J. Nisbet (1974). Legibility in children's books: review of research, NFER
 * M. Vernon (1971). Reading and its Difficulties, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
 * I.L. Child, J.A. Hansen and F.W. Hornbeck (1968). Age and sex differences in children’s colour preferences, Child Development, 39, I, pp. 237-47
 * E.J. Gibson (1965). Learning to read, Science, 148, 1066
 * B. Zachrisson (1965). Studies in the Legibility of printed text, Almqvist & Wiksell
 * C. Burt (1960). The typography of children’s books – a record of research in the UK, in: Yearbook of Education, pp. 242-56