[Roy H. Williams] Font size in copy

8 replies
I subscribe to the Monday Morning Memo by Roy H. Williams and love it.

I recently noticed that each the first few words of each sentence after a break in the MMM is a bigger font than the rest of the sentence and sometimes the last few words are an even smaller font.

Why do you think he does this?

Is he funneling your attention from the beginning of the sentence to the end?

I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts from a copy and psychological perspective.
#copy #font #roy #size #williams
  • Profile picture of the author Ross James
    I'm not sure why he does... but I do know our subconsciousness is also reading the page and maybe for whatever reason he thinks this is some sort of covert way to keep peoples attention longer... I don't know for sure, I don't hate it... It could totally be a design thing as well... typography is one of those things people tend to ignore when designing their site... I think typography it is very important.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3487351].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author travlinguy
    This is sometimes referred to as hypnotic writing. It's designed so the reader almost has to see the oddball text. Setting some of the text apart from the rest is just one aspect of this style.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3487402].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author Woody C
      Originally Posted by travlinguy View Post

      This is sometimes referred to as hypnotic writing. It's designed so the reader almost has to see the oddball text. Setting some of the text apart from the rest is just one aspect of this style.
      So do you think it's some sort of confusion induction to hypnotize you to pay attention?

      I was thinking it may be something along those lines. Kind of like the Ericksonian handshake in writing so the subconscious pays attention to the words on the page.

      I just found it interested that he did it within the same sentence.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3487610].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author Ross James
        Originally Posted by Woody Crenshaw View Post

        So do you think it's some sort of confusion induction to hypnotize you to pay attention?

        I was thinking it may be something along those lines. Kind of like the Ericksonian handshake in writing so the subconscious pays attention to the words on the page.

        I just found it interested that he did it within the same sentence.
        Cool theory, but only a little bit of this stuff works in print... in this case... I think it may be just playing off of breaking rapport subconsciously and possibly holds peoples attention longer...but I'm not even sure that it's really effective

        I've been studying Ericksonian hypnosis... I really don't think it applies here... And I think if milton we're here he would agree.
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3488329].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Alex Cohen
    Originally Posted by Woody Crenshaw View Post


    I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts from a copy and psychological perspective.
    He's creating cognitive dissonance which in this case makes you slightly uncomfortable as you read.

    Helps to keep you from getting bored.

    Alex
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3488339].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Pusateri
    Roy has a metaphorical model of perceptual reality based on physics. Think of each variable in communication as a type of particle: color, font, sentence length, tone, etc.

    His theory is that particle conflict (in this example the varied font sizes in the same sentence) creates interest.

    What he calls particle stack (keeping the various particles congruent) increases clarity and understanding.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3489261].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author HQJonz
    Creating interest at the expense of the reader in my opinion.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3500758].message }}

Trending Topics