The font that makes everyone* read** faster***! *at least 20 people **only in English ***faster than reading Times New Roman

As an intellectual, I prefer reading in wingdings.

They discovered that Lexend Increased reading speeds scientifically? They tested it on 20 people, a tiny sample. Additionally they were all the same age, strangely only 8 out of 20 were male (for an unexplained reason) and five or so of the fonts were Lexend with only one that wasn’t (times new roman). Just by standard distribution five out of every six reads would automatically go to Lexend. Surely they should’ve done six different fonts one of which was Lexend? Highly unreliable

That moment when you underestimate the intelligence of your audience and get called out for it.

A single study using only 20 sample subjects is only mildly more "scientific" than a cola taste test run by Pepsi serving warm, flat Coke.

That's a very small study, and it was only tested against Times New Roman. If 4/5 fonts in the study are Lexend fonts, then there's a much higher likelihood that one of them works better than Times. I'd say more research is needed. Much more. Good idea though!

There's so many factors that could go into play with that kind of experiment: only 1 of the 5 fonts WASN'T Lexend, not all kids are confident at reading aloud, only 19 kids were tested, the reading level was 2 levels higher so students that can guess pronunciation more accurately on words they don't know score higher...

How does testing 20 3rd graders make this a scientifically proven success? This is not a scientific method, not peer reviewed, not big enough sample pool, & probably English biased.

This is like one of those: "every time they say BLANK it gets faster" memes.

If i had 20 dislikes, I could have scientifically dislike this video

Hi everyone, this is the typeface designer featured in the video, Thomas Jockin. I want to clarify Dr. Bonnie Shaver-Troup has conducted many studies over 20 years demonstrating the same conclusions as the study mentioned in the Cheddar video. The video described the methodology of one of these studies. On the question of different script systems, there is compelling evidence to suggest Lexend’s properties will have similar effects. I am currently working on the Arabic edition of Lexend with world known Arabic typeface designer, Nadine Chahine. Lexend Arabic will also be empirically tested for effectiveness. If you’d like to learn more please visit www.lexend.com I do hope these clarifications are helpful and thank you for your attention.

comic sans ms team where you at

“ONE of the tests”. There should be something to help these people in the comment section to listen better

I won't abandon Comic Sans for all my public anouncements! I just love to please one half of people and enrage the other at the same time.

I’d prefer an experience with: - More people - More fonts (like Century Gothic and Montserrat) - More casings types (readability in upper- or lowercase is very different) - More languages

20 people does not constitute a scientific study. Especially with most fonts being a form of Lexand.

Faster reading doesn't mean better understanding of what you are reading.

Whoever edited this should get a raise.

Without watching the video, I’m making a prediction: Helvetica. Midway though video: WTF is Lexend?

As well as the many comments about 20 kids & the font choices not making a reliable sample ... the one question I have goes right to the core of the whole project - what evidence is there that “reading speed” has any influence on “reading comprehension” or overcoming learning difficulties?

Do you even know what "scientifically prove" means?

5:30 sans serif*

Everybody gangsta till the fonts start fonting

Very similar to Avenir, which is used for Blu-ray subtitles. Avenir and its predecessor, Futura, are sometimes criticized for being highly legible but not as readable as humanist typefaces such as Frutiger, Myriad, Noto Sans, Calibri and Carlito. Old-style serifs, such as Garamond, Minion Pro and Centaur, are usually considered the most readable.

absolutely no editorial or journalistic rigor was applied in the making of this video, apparently...

One of the best things about using an e-reader is that I can read in whatever font I want (that's supported by the e-reader). Being able to read every book in a sans serif font makes reading much easier and comfortable on the eye.

I was in college as a graphic design student during the time that this was happening... and I have to say that this wasn't entirely a novel idea. We already knew in design that the kind of typeface you choose has an impact on legibility, and that's why certain types are chosen over others for specific situations. Also... as a designer I have to say you're wrong in citing a sans serif type face is easier to read. this is objectively incorrect and is the reason why smaller type is typically printed in a serif type instead of a sans serif. This specific sans serif might be highly legible, but sans serif type in general is harder to read than serif.

Keep repeating the paragraph that way they won't remember what they just read. Good job

I use Arial 12. If I receive a document in Times New Roman, I immediately try to convert it to a more readable font. Lexand is exactly what I need.

You could’ve done something more interesting looking at the Dyslexie font which is more significantly adapted for readability. Also you missed the difference between font and and script, there being an exciting history of readability in calligraphy. Seriously, no mention of the Antiqua Fraktur dispute! This feels like an advert more than it does journalism

"Fonts are designed to express a mood" That's a whole can of worms right there. You've got like 80% of font designers disagreeing with that statement.

This is so true. I remember being in English class, and when the book had a tiny serif font with little spacing in the paragraph, I groaned and really didn't want to read my homework. It was hard to track and I felt like I was getting nowhere on the page because I had to keep rereading things.

Regardless if it is proven or not to help increase reading speed or not, it’s actually a nice font 👌🏻

I’ve been writing for many years, started out with Times New Roman. I wanted to switch to something easier to read years ago, so I switched to Helvetica. I will give Lexend a try, as well as several others I see mentioned in the comments.

My favourite typeface is Helvetica, which (up until now!) has always been considered the most readable. I have now downloaded the Lexend typeface set and am keen to try it. Please note the difference between a typeface and a font. Lexend, Helvetica, and Times Roman are all examples of TYPEFACES. Times 10 point and Times 12 point are two DIFFERENT fonts! A font is made up of typeface, size (usually in points), stroke weight (eg bold, regular, light) and style (eg roman, italic). Thus Palatino 12 point bold italic is a font. Palatino is the *typeface*. Please also note that Linotype is pronounced as "LINE-o-type", because that is what it produced; a line of type at a time. Last, but not least, you do not "hone in" on anything; you *home* in; to 'hone' something (eg a knife) is to sharpen it!

I see a lot of negatives listed However my tired old eyes may find the Lexend Font less of a strain. Surely worth a test. Thanks.👍

I prefer something where l and I are visually different and perfectly distinguishable.

My favorite font has always been Palatino Linotype.

Beautiful animation work in this one! Love your videos, Cheddar!!

I've looked for the "best" font but never found anything scientific until now. Thank you, Cheddar!

I've been using Verdana for everything I write, cause it is the most readable of the standard fonts to me. I like that Lexend font. Gonna try that out. Seems pretty neat.

Omg. I’m a high school teacher and I literally taught a lesson about this exact thing today... students were fascinated by it and now I’m excited to find this video now and share it with them

my favorite font is Terminus. I set my terminal application to it because I'm writing code in NeoVim а text editor works in terminal application. Terminus makes easier to distinguish 1 (one) from l (letter L) or I (capital letter I), 0 (zero) from O (letter O), and it condensed so more information fits on the screen. Terminus is a perfect font for a programmer or system administrator.

Serif vs Sans Serif - I remember hearing that Serif fonts were designed to be _easier_ to read on paper and signs, especially at high dpi, because it draws your eye to the beginning and end of each character. But on digital screens that don't have the same dpi as print, the serifs become a hindrance and so Sans Serif was created to clean it up.

I've found it on google fonts a while ago - the wide variants look weird but it's cool to have a font based on readability

The font I personally find the easiest to digest (i.e., fastest to read) is Trebuchet MS - as noted elsewhere in the comments, it helps having the uppercase "I" and the lowercase "l" be immediately visually distinct and, thus, unambiguous. The font I find most aesthetically pleasing is Garamond.

Wow, awesome! Do you have a breakdown of the intended audience for different versions of the font?

i really like cambria math as an alternative to times new roman it has the same characteristics and feel, but its more line consistent. the serif and the curves on letters dont thin out in mock imitation of pen writing, and there are no visually disturbing dimples either. i've printed an entire book with this font and i think its pleasant to read. i recommend it highly if you want a font thats not painfully preposterous. it has a soft plumb feel so that it fits a wider range of moods

But Lexend, as you said is tested in English, sure maybe for other Latin script based languages it will show similar results, but in the case of Cyrillic will it make it easier? Maybe, but in Russian typed letter tend to look differently than written, a good example is the letter D in Russian, when typed it is (Д) (д) but when written by hand its (D) (g), will this make a difference in the font?... Another one, what about Arabic - where the letters are conjoined and are effected how they are written depending where they are placed in the word... for me that is interesting seeing how language/script can determine what is the easy font to read.

Interesting, I'll have to take a look at Lexend. I've been using DejaVu Sans in my documents and DejaVu Sans Mono on the terminal. Lexend appears to be similar. I'm glad someone is finally looking into fonts though. As someone who spends many hours of the day looking at lots and lots of text I've learned that the font makes a huge difference on eyestrain and how fast I can read through it. I only found DejaVu Sans by random chance by seeing some folks mention it in a blog post somewhere and then seeing it in Linux.

this is actually great. never thought of it. i tried it and it's great. thank you both

Calibri Light is my most favorite font, I use it everywhere where it is possible

I doubt anything will ever replace Tahoma as my favorite font. :)

I tend to use TNR most frequently, since I find it the easiest to read. Will definitely test out Lexend Fonts now!

Well, it IS a clear and legible font. Had to go searching, but what sold me was that the capital I and the lowercase L (l) can be distinguished from each other, unlike whatever font I'm writing in now! Kudos for that! I kept falling back to Times New Roman because of that problem, despite having direct knowledge that that particular font was not as easy for many others to read. Now if can just be made available in Word....

i had a teacher in 8th grade who made us type everything up in century gothic, its always been the easiest for me to read (and the nicest looking that i've seen) and i still use it today in everything from work, resumes, and just my own projects. but i see how this font can be good :)

My favorite font is called Poppins, check it out on Google fonts

With this "a" looking like "o" this font cannot be the most readable one.

omg i love this!!! im a huge fan of typography and i have been using Dyslexie on some personal projects. i will deff look into this font as well!

Great idea. I’m interested in fonts because I know how they effect reading and comprehension. I was never a good speller but my grades went drastically down when they switched the font to cursive in the spelling book. I had never really learned cursive and this made it hard. In college, I found out I was dyslexic.

You forgot to actually put in a slab serif font @ 1:44

Oh, finally a video about the virtues of Helvetica Semicondensed ... right?

I don't know whether it is my age and therefore what I am most used to, but I find fonts with serifs easier to read than similar non-serif fonts.

Well my favourite font is the Ubuntu font family. Not for the OS itself I write thesis and websites and use it on Windows UI even with that font but I will definitely give this font a try!

Just waiting the comic san user's comments

This is why my favorite font is comic sans

1:45 the bottom right picture is wrong. It says "slab serif", while showing a sans serif font.

Lexend Deca is my new favourite sans serif typeface for body text, and Lexend Exa for headings. Calibri was my workhorse sans serif for many years, however, and it served me well. Calibri was a good replacement for both Arial and Times New Roman. Georgia is my favourite serif typeface. I use it for most text documents now. It's distinct, elegant, and fairly easy to read in my experience. When I need a monospace typeface, I typically use Consolas or Source Code Pro. Both are quite legible to me and have true italics. Whether for emphasis or style, true italics are very useful for their distinctiveness from upright letter forms.

My favorite font is Georgia 😌

I teach the psychology of fonts in an infographics class

It's curious that the factors cited as responsible for this typeface's improved readability include its being sans serif. From time immemorial typographers have insisted that serif fonts are better for body copy due to their superior readability, as serifs guide the reader's eyes. Correspondingly, they have recommended that sans serif faces be used mainly for headlines and subheadings. How could thousands of committed professionals have gotten it so wrong for so long? Does one study, involving so few people and so few typefaces, really prove all of them wrong?

Helvetica CE is the best font for reading articles, it occupies less space as well. Legend Deccan is more round, and occupies more space.

This feels like a 7 minute long ad with very little actual scientific evidence, kinda like those infomercials they get news readers to do, so it looks like an news story rather than a ad. Thats not a very cool thing to do Cheddar

Typeface! Not fonts

Well edited video. Wow, give a raise to the editor. As for this font, calling it the most readable font in the world is a stretch at best.

Everyone is complaining about the 20 students study being small but where do they say it was the only study they did?

“Readable” *uses comic sans*

Bruh “happy monkey” is my absolutely favorite font and all my friends hate it lol

this will be so useful for resumes, writing emails, documents, etc....

I’m not familiar with lexend. But my favorite font is bookman old style. Apparently for some of the reasons lexend was created. The wider letters for one. One thing that bookman has that San serifs don’t always have - that is important to me - is the fact that all letters and numerals are different. For instance a Capital I, a lower case l and the number 1 are all distinct. It’s the same with a capital O and the number 0. This isn’t the case with all San serif fonts. For me, I can, at times have a 0 and an O next to each other or a 1 and an I. The font used by UKposts happens to show them differently, but a lot of fonts do not.

Haha, I’m one of those weirdos who switched backed to Times New Roman over Calibri, I like serif fonts

When did Cheddar start making videos based on opinions not facts? And why did I subscribe?

I used lexend for an essay and my teacher told me she particularily enjoyed reading mine because the typaface was so comfortable to read in.

I didn't think it was possible to have a font that was MORE difficult for me to read. Dyslexia is such a challenge, so I know this Lex font isn't made for people like me. But dang I didn't think it would make things THIS much harder to read. I'm glad for those who like this font and can now read faster, but for me I'll stick with my OpenDyslexic font. The letters just get less jumbled for me.

"SAN SERIF"

I don’t know about you but I will still take Arial and Helvetia over this.

A font you say? *megalovania intensifies*

I never thought that there would be a font that makes reading speeds faster. That is super cool.

Is it normal to be sexually attracted to fonts.?? Oooh!! Yeah!! Italics, you dirty font...

I like the concept of the most readable font, but I think there should be multiple fonts (outside of different weights and widths) for optimal readability for the sake of variety. I’m sure there could be other fonts as readable as Lexend. The fonts I like are Source Sans Pro, Yantramanav, and Open Sans, all if which are also on Google Fonts and I think can serve easy readability. I’m not sure if it’s as readable as Lexend or as Lexend is claimed to be. I understand that designing a font, let alone one for perfect readability, is no easy task and takes loads of time and ingenuity. Maybe I might have to wait 30 years or so for a plethora of refined fonts as readable as Lexend. Who knows? I’m not calling Lexend a bad font or a bad font concept. However, as a graphic designer, I long for variety.

Recently, I had to make a presentation. I used PowerPoint, and chose a very minimalistic design, making it easy to navigate. However, I conscientiously chose the font that was used for telegraph communication, not only for the style and the hommage, but also because it's very thin, and therefore slightly harder to read. The goal (as there wasn't much information on the screen) was to force people to make the effort of reading consciously what I had written. I also blackened the keywords, to make sure they stood out. The font choice was therefore extremely conscious of the impact it would have on the readers, in a way, controlling their experience to make sure they would follow me.

tl;dr This video appears to do a bad job of explaining the actual purpose of Lexend and this video. Lexend is presented here as the best typeface that designers and Google could come up with, with the suggestion that it is maybe the best ever. That seems . . . dubious considering the vast array of sans-serif typefaces already out there in the world. I probably would be less fired up if it was more simply stated that, "hey, Lexend is pretty great! What do you think though? Download it if you like it!" The real thing of novelty is the focus on letter width and the entrepreneurial mentality and idea of "You should take all text from around the web, plug it into Google Docs, and change the font to a Lexend variant with the letter spacing that's most readable for you!" which sounds terribly clunky to me, though I could see it being worthwhile in some situations. Plenty of typefaces have a whole family of font variations like a bold, narrow, spaced, or italicized variants among others. Granted, few are designed to have more subtle variations only serving to provide different fonts that would be more readable to different people, but I don't know why one couldn't at least theoretically take Avenir, Helvetica, or Arial and come up with a variant that's even more readable than one of the Lexend variants. At least, no evidence is cited here to convince me in any way that this couldn't work. And that's fine if Lexend is just presented as an average, typical typeface that's a great one size fits all typeface family. Lexend is, as stated, a composite of different typefaces produced from Dr. Shaver-Troup's clients. But there's conflicting information here: Lexend is propped up as a superior typeface if not the absolute best, yet it's necessarily limited to only four variants, and no one of those variants is the best for everyone, so no single typeface could be the best anyway! The contradiction here is so obvious, it's no wonder so many of us UKposts commenters stepped up to the plate when we were presented a ball on a tee (insert indignant comment on the non-representative nature of a sample size of twenty American schoolchildren reading five paragraphs here). But I gather that the reason why this isn't brought up is that someone's got a typeface to sell! Which is fine, but the presentation sure seems pretty cynically motivated to just get people to download Lexend and use Google Docs more. Not everything can be cut down to a scientific truth, but that's how this story on typeface design was told. That's a shame, because I'm glad there's a new typeface in the world, but it has no right to cut down all the others (I'm looking straight at that very relatable attack on Comic Sans) unless you present me with a true meta-analysis of readability studies across hundreds if not thousands of typefaces. And I gotta see some proper, rigorous statistics: confidence intervals, percent error, etc. Granted, it'd be exceptionally, unreasonably difficult to accumulate all the grants for all those primary studies, but we can handle it if you tell us the research just doesn't exist yet. We're in a post-Replicability Crisis era, and I think a lot more people have an appetite for modesty and restraint in presenting scientific research (or at least the peer-reviewed stuff). Other dislike reasons: 1) No citations in the doobly-doo, particularly regarding the claims of what makes a readable typeface, which I think could have partially satiated critics of this video. 2) I didn't find any peer-reviewed research on this particular typeface, let alone independent, third-party research, and as a result, 3) This just seems like a marketing video produced by Cheddar. 4) BUT DID THEY TEST AGAINST COMIC SANS THO? 5) I'll just ask. Placebo effect? 6) Times New Roman wasn't compared against Lexend 1:1 but instead had the deck stacked against it 1:4 and it STILL beat Lexend ~10% of the time without readers being able to choose the Times New Roman that's best for them. That seems pretty good for a typeface that is a) generally regarded as being poor for readability, b) is pitted against the purported BEST typeface on the planet, and c) readers are primed to expect to read fastest with at least one of the Lexend variants anyway. 7) This paragraph on the Lexend website (parentheses are my comments): "Lexend has been discussed (I'm sorry, 'discussed'? What does that even mean?) in two Stanford labs (So wait, are they hinting that there's at least one research paper in the works?), at HP & Microsoft (HP and Microsoft are only discussing this typeface?), was listed on Apple K-12 Assistive Technology from 2003-2005 (Wait, exactly how old is this typeface? What happened in 2006?), has recently been referenced in research and patents by Adobe, and is available both on Google Fonts & as an open-source download."

I gave the reading test a try myself and it took me the same amount of time to read the same thing in both fonts. I read it in Lexend second, so any advantage I'd have had from already reading it didn't really apply. Ignoring the issues with the test itself that other people have pointed out, I'm skeptical as to whether this really does help that much (for me it definitely doesn't) The font just looks ugly to me and its width makes me... uncomfortable? If that makes any sense? It doesn't feel good to read, it feels way too spaced apart

San Serif, the patron saint of typography.

I like "IBM Plex Sans" for making my reading easier, and I'll check out "Lexend" too, now that I know about it. Thanks for the video!

Bonnie, why doesn't it have Serifs? I was taught serifs guide the eyes and you don't loose the line. Therefore, it does make reading more pleasant and faster, doesn't it?

I use Segoe UI Regular for general use because i really like how it looks and JetBrains Mono as a Monospace font for Coding and stuff because it is really good for that

Excellent work, Bonnie et.al.! One thing that can throw me for a loop is when a font makes insufficient distinction between l, I and 1. O and 0, similarly. Looks like you considered that, thanks! One font I’ve always liked, although I can’t recall it’s name right off, looks somewhat like Helvetica except that the ends of each stroke are round, as if written with a circular pen nib. It strikes me as kinda like serif to sans-serif, taken one step further still. I find it a little less tiring to read.

it would be also interesting to find out if there is a connection between language and reading speed