Debate: Bold text vs. high contrast backgrounds for readability?

Honestly, last week I was working on a flyer for a community event in Austin and got into a huge argument with my friend Jenna. She swears by using bold text on a lighter background to make things pop, but I think high contrast backgrounds like dark blue on white work way better. I tested the flyer on a projector at 25 feet and the bold text was fuzzy while the high contrast looked sharp. What do you all lean toward when you have to pick one?

2 comments

2 Comments

wrenh791d ago

High contrast always wins in real world testing. Bold text is just lazy design wearing a cool jacket.

wyatt_fox6816h ago

Yeah that bold text thing reminds me of how every new app update seems to strip away color and add more white space. People treat it like some fresh idea but really it's just easier to make things huge and black and white than to actually think about what information matters most. I see the same thing in packaging design at the grocery store now. Everything is trying to look clean and minimal but half the time I can't even tell what brand I'm looking at because they all blend together. Good contrast and clear hierarchy beats trendy faux-minimalism every time. It's like people forgot that readability is actually the whole point of putting words on a screen. Just use dark text on a light background and call it done.