We’re talking font here. For Digital Signage developers and designers, details and subtleties are key. (Other than using certain color pallets to elicit a response or emotion.)
What I am referring to is the magnetism of type. Kerning, tracking, and other typographical necessities aside, the overall size of on-screen fonts can “hook” the viewer. That concept can work in two different ways, both of which depend on the function and goal of the screen itself.
“Is my type too small?” It just might be…but first, take a good look at the amount of information on the screen along with its intent. Is the screen interactive? Do you want to encourage longer view times and convey more information? Let your eyes be the guide- start at your viewing distance and just walk backwards. The point of reference I commonly use is a news feed for a few reasons; it’s an element that has movement and there is a constant influx of words in headlines which people have a hard time ignoring. Scaling that feed to just the right size will help to draw viewers to your screen.
Regardless of the information source, type can play a big role in being the hook, line, and sinker. Sometimes absorbing the information you want viewers to see is actually the second part of their experience. If the type is too BIG you may have given them all they were looking for, not what you wanted them to see. Too small and you’ve got yourself an illegible string of color. A tip for you micro-typographers: Webfonts are great for very small text on digital displays. They will yield more clarity when scaled down very small due to lack of anti-aliasing, to give the illusion that a font is more curvaceous in a pixel-based environment.
That being said: use your head and your eyes. If you think your fonts are too small, make them bigger. The worst-case scenario is that they become more readable…
