Hi
I am looking for relatively narrow sans faces that work particularly well as text faces at a small point size whilst squeezing as many words into a line as possible.
I am currently setting Univers condensed (8pt type / 10pt leading) but was looking for any suggestions for typefaces that meet the requirements above whilst being a little easier on the eye?
Many thanks.
Good question, have always wondered this.
I find meta works well.
You could give Delicious a go. Does a great job at 6 or 7 pt.
Take a look at Myriad Condensed.
Fedra is also very good, including the serif I think. Also of course 'agate' type, specifically designed for small size, like Poynter Agate and the one by Tobias Frere-Jones, whose name escapes me at the moment. And then if you want to go nuts on small, there is Biblio of Storm.
why not try Axel?
Thanks for these suggestions… I'm considering whitney just now as well - it seems to work well at small sizes too
Agilita Condensed has made a great job in small sizes in a magazine layout and tabular settings.
Brown Gothic is somewhat like Univers, but semi-condensed.
Note that a narrow typeface doesn't necessarily get you more words for the same legibility. You may be able to shrink more in size a wider face and still be legible. And if you have more than one line, you may be able to stack the lines with less leading. IIRC, Stephen Coles here has pointed to Amplitude as one that works very well small.
You might want to look at Nina, a condensed sans serif designed by Matthew Carter for readability on screen at small sizes. A single-user license for the complete Nina family can be had for a very low price in one of the bundles offered on FontMarketplace.com.
Captured from web.archive.org on 23 Mar 2015. view this capture
