BonFX

Typography & Graphic Design Blog

  • Blog
  • Font Combinations
  • Books
    • The Preposterously Huge Book of Google Font Combinations
    • The Big Book of Font Combinations (Classic Fonts Edition)
  • Contact
You are here: Home / Typography / Typography Quote of the Day: Legibility vs. Readability

The BonFX Letter

One good pairing.
Every Tuesday.

2-minute read · free

This week — no. 14

Quiet authority

Merriweather sets the tone in one line. Lato stays out of the way and lets it.

MERRIWEATHER 700  +  LATO 400

A font specimen, a pairing that works, and one line on why it works. That is the whole email.

Free. One click to unsubscribe. No sharing, ever.

Typography Quote of the Day: Legibility vs. Readability

June 1, 2013 by Douglas Bonneville

flickr.com/groups/_typography/pool/

Legibility is another area where the designer can be misled by what seems like an obvious dictate in type selection and design. There can be no question about the readability of the message, but legibilty and readability are not quite the same — a dull and uninteresting presentation in a highly legible typeface will not be widely read. There have been many studies of comparative legibility, and each study seems to surface with slightly different conclusions. For the designer, the best solution is to use his material in such a way that it arouses interest and invites reading.

—Allen Hurlburt, Layout: The Design of the Printed Page

 

Related Articles

  • 17 Types of Fonts
  • Best Fonts for Designers
  • 600+ Google Font Combinations
  • Font Combinations: The Complete Guide to Font Pairings
  • The Big Book of Font Combinations

About Douglas Bonneville

Douglas has been a graphic designer since 1992, in addition to software developer and author. He is a member of Smashing Magazine's "Panel of Experts" and has contributed to over 100 articles. He is the author of "The Big Book of Font Combinations", loves cats, and plays guitar.

The BonFX Letter

One good pairing.
Every Tuesday.

2-minute read · free

This week — no. 14

Quiet authority

Merriweather sets the tone in one line. Lato stays out of the way and lets it.

MERRIWEATHER 700  +  LATO 400

A font specimen, a pairing that works, and one line on why it works. That is the whole email.

Free. One click to unsubscribe. No sharing, ever.

Free download

The Typography Primer.
Yours, right now.

Adobe's classic · PDF · free

The Typography Primer — book cover

The guide to type that everyone learned from. Subscribe and it is yours instantly. The BonFX Letter follows.

Free. One click to unsubscribe. No sharing, ever.

Still Googling UX terms?

Stop. They're all right here.

UX for Cats book cover

50 terms. Illustrated.
So simple your cat gets it.

Get the Book →

Print & ePub on Amazon

350 font combinations you can steal.

The Big Book of Font Combinations

Every pairing shown in context — web, print, headings, body. Open it, find one that works, use it.

That's it. That's the book.

In print or ePub 40% OFF on Gumroad

Scrolling Google Fonts for "the right one"?

You've been at it for 20 minutes. You'll be at it for 20 more. There are 1,500 fonts in there.

Pocket Handbook of Google Fonts Combinations

We paired every useful Google Font.
7,500 pages. Done.

Get the PDF →

Instant download on Gumroad

Recent Inspirations

  • What Fonts Go With Verdana? September 13, 2026
  • What Fonts Go With Trajan? September 12, 2026
  • What Fonts Go With Minion? September 11, 2026
  • What Fonts Go With Myriad? September 10, 2026
  • What Fonts Go With Sabon? September 9, 2026
  • What Fonts Go With Kabel? September 8, 2026
  • What Fonts Go With Gilroy? September 7, 2026
  • What Fonts Go With Segoe UI? September 6, 2026
  • What Fonts Go With Bembo? September 5, 2026
  • What Fonts Go With Abril Fatface? September 4, 2026
  • What Fonts Go With Cinzel? September 4, 2026
  • What Fonts Go With Cormorant Garamond? September 4, 2026
  • What Fonts Go With Anton? September 4, 2026
  • What Fonts Go With Quicksand? September 4, 2026
  • What Fonts Go With Vollkorn? September 4, 2026

About BonFX

Douglas Bonneville has been a graphic designer since 1992 and has written about type here since 2009. BonFX is a blog about typography and design, and the books that came out of it.

  • The Big Book of Font Combinations
  • The Preposterously Huge Book of Google Font Combinations
  • UX for Cats

More about BonFX →

Start Here

  • Font Combinations: The Complete Guide
  • The 100 Best Fonts
  • 17 Types of Fonts
  • 29 Principles for Great Font Combinations
  • 23 Really Bad Font Choices
  • 20 Free Google Wedding Font Combinations

Contact

Questions about the books or the site? Contact us.

Follow @dbonneville on X.

The BonFX Letter: one good pairing every Tuesday, free. The signup is in the sidebar of every page.

Copyright © 2026 · BonFX

  • Blog
  • Font Combinations
  • Books
    • The Preposterously Huge Book of Google Font Combinations
    • The Big Book of Font Combinations (Classic Fonts Edition)
  • Contact