First line left indent question

[JamesM]

Found them, Christopher...
http://www.harmerschau.com/lotphotos_large/90/112306.jpg
http://myloc.gov/_assets/Exhibitions/naacp/worldwarii/Assets/na0095_01_e...

[JamesM]

> Do you have a source for higher resolution versions

Christopher, I don't remember the URLs but I found them via Google. Just do a Google images search for "typewritten letter president [name]" without the quotes and I'm sure you'll find them. Neither image was real high-res, but they were both bigger than the size I posted them.

(The reason I was searching for presidential letters is that I had a vague memory of seeing them previously with big indents.)

Update -- I found the URLs; see following post

[Maxim Zhukov]

I wonder if making the indent larger than most or all of the “rags” sends the eye the message that “this is an intentional break, not an arbitrary byproduct of line lengths like those other spaces over there.”

Yes, something to that effect. It’s just that the uneven lines in FL/RR setting create a lot of visual noise on page… Especially loud when there are no word breaks, which causes a ‘hard rag’, or strongly uneven right edge of the column. Bordering on unbearable in those languages that have longer words than English. So a stronger signal may be necessary to indicate a paragraph break.

[John Hudson]

Okay, so I understand the reasoning now, but I don't find it compelling. Those 'other spaces over there' seems to me to have nothing to do with what is happening on the left margin, which is nothing out of the ordinary for normal reading. So why introduce something that is out of the ordinary? As for the ragged right producing visual noise on the page, I agree, and I think the deep indent on the left only increases that visual noise: it certainly seems to in the 1976 Olympics page spreads to which Maxim linked. I think one of the reasons why adding space between paragraphs and not indenting them became a popular solution for ragged right text is precisely because making a consistent left margin anchors the text better and reduces the noise. And, of course, Eric Gill's solution for ragged right setting in his essay on typography was to get rid of the paragraph breaks altogether and use a pilcrow instead. Again, I think this was to maintain a consistent left margin contra the variable rag.

Making the left margin more ragged than usual because the right margin is ragged seems exactly what one should not be doing.

[JamesM]

> Indents are to separate paragraphs, and since there
> is no paragraph before the first (by definition), no
> indent is needed.

Another reason for not indenting the first paragraph is that visually it creates a weak start.

I rarely indent first paragraphs. Occasionally a client (or copy editor) will think it's an error, but after explaining my reasoning they've always dropped their objection.

[JamesM]

> So why introduce something [large indent] that is out of the ordinary?

In some cases (not necessarily this one) it might be the designer thinking "this looks like the text in a zillion other printed pieces; how can I make it look a bit different?"

[Chris Dean]

See:

Frase, L. T. & Schwartz, B. J. (1979). Typographical cues that facilitate comprehension. Journal of Educational Psychology, 71(2), 197-206. doi: 10.1037/0022-0663.71.2.197

Abstract
Written sentences often contain several meaningful components (e.g., causes and effects or events in a sequence). Preliminary studies of technical documents showed that typographically segmenting these components improved raters' judgments of the comprehensibility of the information. In the present paper, this segmentation notion is generalized, suggesting that phrase segmentation and indentation can be used to facilitate comprehension. Five experiments were conducted (with a total of 72 college students or technical aides) in which Ss verified sentences by reading complex information in several technical passages. Meaningfully segmented and indented text resulted in 14–28% faster response times than standard text. Both segmenting and indenting significantly influenced performance; however, once a text had been meaningfully segmented, the addition of indentation cues did not significantly affect response time. These data shed light on persisting issues in typographic design, namely, whether there is an optimal length for lines and whether justified margins are desirable. Such factors appear to be of minor cognitive relevance. The critical variable is whether the format results in a display of easily encoded units, regardless of length or neatness of margins. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).

[JamesM]

So if I'm reading that correctly, response time improved if text was divided into paragraphs by either 1) adding space between paragraphs, OR 2) by using indents. But doing both (space + indents) didn't add additional benefit beyond just using one of them. And that makes sense to me. Am I reading that right?

[Nick Shinn]

…adding space between paragraphs and not indenting them became a popular solution for ragged right text…

Fashions in paragraphing have come and gone.
The practice John refers to was the initial default of html on the Web, for some reason in opposition to the then current style in print. That is how it acquired its present popularity, with some new-media cachet as well.

Here is a previous implementation of a similar style, from the innovative Ladies Home Journal early in the Progressive era.

[Chris Dean]

@JamesM: That’s what the abstract is saying, but I am reading the paper now and it is significantly more complex. There are actually 5 different experiments, each with different materials and results. I will be writing a review of this paper, but there is a lot of data to interpret. It may take some time. I will keep you posted.

[Té Rowan]

I think I read somewhere that web browser default style was based on CERN's tech. writing style.