Multimedia Systems and Design

Chapter: 2

Text
Overview
 Importance of text in a multimedia
presentation.
 Understanding fonts and typefaces.
 Using text elements in a multimedia
presentation.
 Computers and text.
 Font editing and design tools.
 Multimedia and hypertext.
Text in History
 Text came into use about 6,000 years
ago.
 Text and the ability to read it are
doorways to power and knowledge
Revolution in Communication
 Using symbols for communication
relatively recent - 6,000 years old
 15th Century- Johann Gutenburg
printing press revolutionized information
 Recently - another revolution - the World
Wide Web and its native language - HTML
The Power of Meaning and the
Importance of Text
•Words must be chosen carefully
•Words appear in:
Titles
Menus
Navigational aids

•Test the words you plan to use

•Keep a thesaurus handy
The Power of Meaning and the
Importance of Text
it’s important to design labels for title
screens, menus, and buttons or tabs using
words that have the most precise and
powerful meanings to express what you
need to say.
•GO BACK! is more powerful than
Previous;
•Quit is more powerful than Close.
•TERRIFIC! may work better than That
Answer Was Correct.
Fonts and Faces
 A typeface is a family of graphic characters that
includes many type sizes and styles (such as Times, Arial,
Helvetica)

 A font is a collection of characters of a single size

and style belonging to a typeface family (font styles are
bold, italic)

 Font sizes are in points 1 point = 1/72 inch

 X-height is the height of the lower case letter x

Factors affecting legibility of text
◦ Size.
◦ Background and foreground color.
◦ Style.
◦ Leading (pronounced “ledding”).
Styles
 Examples of styles are boldface and italic
Italic

Bold

Underlined
Leading and Kerning
Computers can
 adjust the line spacing (called leading)
leading
and
 the space between pairs of letters,
called kerning
Fonts and Faces
 PostScript, TrueType and Master fonts can
be altered
 Bitmapped fonts cannot be altered
 The computer draws or rasterizes a
letter on the screen with pixels or dots.
 Cases
 When type was set by hand, the type for a
font was kept in a drawer or case,
 The upper drawer held the capital letters,
and the lower drawer held the smaller letters
 From this we get the terms uppercase and
lowercase
Case Sensitive
 Password, and paths in a URL are case sensitive
( that is “home” is different from “HOME”)
 It is easier to read words that have a mixture of
upper and lower case letters rather than all
upper case
 Computer terms use an intercap for readability
as in PageMaker, WordPerfect, OmniPage,
PhotoDisc, FileMaker, and WebStar
Serif and Sans Serif
 Type either has a little decoration at the
end of the letter - called a serif
 or it doesn’t - sans serif ( “sans” from the
French meaning without)
 Examples ( Times - serif “T” )
( Arial - sans serif “T”)
 Use what is appropriate to convey your
message
Using Text In Multimedia
 WYSIWYG - What you see is what you
get!
 Aim for a balance between too much text
and too little
 Make web pages no more than
1 to 2 screenfuls of text
 Bring the user to the destination with as
few actions as possible
 Text Font Design Tips
 Use the most legible font available
 Use as few different faces as possible ( too many
called “ransom-note” typography
 Use bold and italics to convey meaning
 Adjust line spacing ( leading)
 Adjust the spacing between letters in headings to
remove gaps
 Use colors and background to make type stand out
 Use meaningful word for links and menus
More Text Font Design Tips
 Anti-aliasing or dithering blends colors along
the edges of letters to create gentle effect.
 Experiment with shadows
 Surround headlines with white space

Try attention grabbing effect with color, word

art or large drop letters at the beginning of text
Menus For Navigation
 A Multimedia project or web site should
include:
◦ content or information
◦ navigation tools such as menus, mouse clicks,
key presses or touch screen
◦ some indication or map of where the user is
in the presentation
Buttons for Interaction
 Buttons are objects that make things
happen when they are clicked
 Use common button shapes and sizes
 Label them clearly
 BE SURE THEY WORK!
Fields for Reading
 Reading from a computer screen is slower
than from a book
 People blink 3-5 times/minute, using a
computer and 20-25 times/minute reading a
book
 This reduced eye movement causes fatigue,
dryness
 Try to present only a few paragraphs
per page
Portrait vs. Landscape
 Monitor use wider-than-tall aspect ratios
called landscape
 Most books use taller-than- wide
orientation, called portrait
 Don’t try to shrink a full page onto a
monitor

landscape
portrait