Dear John, You have had sound advice from several on this list but there is an extra point that might be of interest to you and to others...
Those who cut inscriptions on stone walls take into account that the top is likely to be further away from the observer than the bottom. Accordingly, they adjust the heights of the letters (but NOT the widths) so that the lettering at the top is taller than that at the bottom. When read from the most natural standing position the letters all APPEAR to be the same height and this is easier on the eye. I can imagine circumstances where this kind of adjustment might be appropriate for diallists, a tall wall dial in a confined public square for example. > ... I'm going to make a linear graph relating distance > to character size. Yes, but character `height' would be more strictly accurate than character `size'. Any serious letterer will tell you that characters do not scale linearly as you increase their size. All kinds of subtle tricks (subtle in that they are there so you DON'T notice them) are brought into play. A simple example is the letter X for 10. Usually, the stroke from top-left to bottom-right is fat and that from top-right to bottom-left is thin. If you have all the proportions correct for an X on a wrist-watch and then naively enlarge it 100 times for an X on a public clock, then both lines will be much too fat but the thin line more so than the fat one. Those who cut inscriptions in Roman times 2000 years ago knew many of these tricks! Frank King Cambridge, U.K. -
