page_28 < previous page page_28 next page > Page 28 22 Determine the Reading Distance Before you decide what size type to use, determine, if you can, what the reading distance will be. Take, for example, type to be used on a poster. If viewers can't get closer than, say, twenty feet, that tells you you've got to select relatively large faces. But sometimes posters are for display in a home, restaurant, or theater lobby, where the reader can get within inches. Obviously, quite small (probably explanatory) type can be used, as well as larger type for main headings. Type for a 35mm slide, both the type sizes and number of lines, is determined by the size of the hall and the screen size. If the hall seats 5,000 people, the slide should have no more than a few words in large letters if people in the back rows will be able to read what's projected. To be safe, make up some sample slides and project them in a hall the size of the one to be used. 23 Consider Custom Custom helps set parameters on the selection of proper type sizes for certain design projects. Business cards, for example, rarely use a large type size. The same is true of formal announcements and invitations, which are usually 10- or 12-point, perhaps 14-point. You can break convention successfully, but make sure you know what you're doing. Unless you're going after a special effect, it may be wise to stay within the customary bounds. The type size you choose can be influenced by what's customary. For instance, formal invitations normally don't use type that is either unusually small or unusually big. By keeping the type size within those parameters but using a sans serif type, this invitation is both traditional and modern.  < previous page page_28 next page >