Milk's typeface Articulate Sans incorporates subtle details to enhance legibility and cognition

Devised by Auckland-based design agency Milk, Articulate Sans is a ‘legibility-enhanced’ sans serif typeface designed to assist those with inadequate or impaired vision. Throughout their design process, Milk focused on translating traditional legibility-enhancing techniques into a digital setting; resulting in a single-minded approach which sees the typeface possess a sole weight designed to work at every scale. Articulate Sans’ design features an increased x-height and decreased cap and descender heights in order to increase its legibility at small point sizes. In addition, calculated incisions appear at the intersection of two or more strokes, such as within the ‘x’. These subtle details are what set the typeface apart from regular sans families as they significantly increase the individuality and legibility of each character. As part of the project, Milk designed Articulate Sans’ striking 352-page specimen book, aiming to showcase its construction, method and character. Layouts show off the typeface’s flexibility, with characters regularly unconstrained by the four corners they’re bound within. Partly inspired by Dutch ophthalmologist Herman Snellen’s iconic eye chart, much of the typography within the book asks the reader to test Articulate’s legibility for themselves – utilising words and figures presented in lists, descending scale and with amplified detail.