Serif, or Sans-Serif: that is the question..

When it comes down to whether to use a serif or a sans-serif font in a design, many people choose by taste. But from time to time you'll meet someone who tells you that serif-based fonts are more readable due to various reasons.

My typography teacher, for example, always used to tell me that serifs were more readable than sans-serif fonts because serifs are used to guide the flow of the eye. I, up to now, always believed this and thus often chose to use serif fonts for those layouts where informational purposes stood in the foreground.

I just found this interesting article from Alex Poole who spend a lot of time researching whether the above statement, and others, are true.

The result is interesting, to say the least, and should be known to anybody who frequently uses serif fonts as he believes that they enhance readability.

Alex Poole - Literature Review - Serif vs. Sans Serif Legibility