I am currently working on a project which involves type being invisible. Text should exist to do a job, to convey a message, not to look fancy on a page and distract you whilst you read. Therefore type should be a tool that you look through, not at.
Sans Forgetica is a font that has been scientifically designed using principles of psychology to improve retention of written information. It was created by a multidisciplinary team of designers and researchers from RMIT University School of Design and its Behavioural Business Lab to assist students in the lead- up to their exams. The typeface is free to download and is available on most programs across both Mac and PC formats.
When a piece of information is too easily and cleanly read, it can fail to engage our brains in the kind of deeper cognitive processing necessary for effective retention and recall.
Sans Forgetica is an attempt to address this somewhat ironic flaw of design. By disrupting the flow of the individual letterforms, readers are subtly prompted to increase their focus on the text being communicated. Increased focus means more cognitive processing and therefore helping us to recall what we have just read.
Comments