Every sign (or graphic) designer has to make sure the sign, banner or poster they have created can actually be read. But how do you know how large to make the letters? This is obviously a difficult question, as there are many variables, such as the eye sight of the person, the contrast of the letters and background etc.

There is a serious lack of research into this problem, so in 2007, Clover Signs commissioned their own research project to try to determine a rough guide.

Click here to open the calculator.

 

The research found out that unless the designer can indicate how readable the text it, trying to determine how large the text should be is impossible. Hence, when using the calculator, the designer must indicate roughly how readable the text is. The distances are compensated to make the text clearly readable - hence if your eyes are good, you will find you can read some of the text at a much further distance.

No one factor relates to how readable the text is, which is why we use a graphical guide. As you use it and look at your fonts, you will soon be able to decide how readable a font is. For those wanting to use it a lot, you may wish to make yourself a chart of the R-Factor of all your common fonts.

We will be making further improvements over time. The guide is rough, but should give a good indication of how to size your text.

To use the calculator, you need to click the link above.