Recently I sent a client a sample book layout. His is a business technology book, and the book cover designer used the modern sanserif DIN on the front cover. I used the same font in the interior for headings and captions, but used the serif font Minion for the body text. After seeing the proof, my client asked me:
Since the subject matter of the book is contemporary, shouldn’t we have the whole thing in sanserif?
It was a good question and sounded logical. Wouldn’t sanserif body text give the whole book a modern feel? And haven’t I designed whole books in sanserif fonts before?
Yes, in the last year I designed various books with sanserif body text, but they were:
a cookbook
a journal
a short book about social media marketing
a short book with cartoons with short essays about business themes.
I decided to format them in sanserif fonts:
because the subject matter was contemporary, BUT ALSO
because they were short, easy reads, or the text was in short blocks (like in the cookbook).
For example, look at these spreads from a journal I designed. The text is in short, simple lines or blocks.
But in the case of the book my client’s business technology book, a 90,000+ word book on a technical topic. The text is in long chapters with lots of parts that need to be made as readable and understandable as possible. Serifs actually make text more readable, helping the human eye to identify the letter shapes quickly and easily. As you can see in the sample layouts below, serif text also sets the main body text apart from the other headers, pull quotes, indented quotes, etc. that are set in sanserif font.
To sum it up, should your book interior layout use a serif or a sanserif body text font? Only if the text blocks are relatively short and easy to read. For any long form fiction or non-fiction books your best bet is to go the traditional route, using serif body text to improve readability!
If you’re looking for a book interior layout or just needing some advice about how to get your book into print, feel free to get in touch through my contact page!