My wife and I got home from a meeting tonight at 9:20 PM. She wanted to watch her favorite TV program, so I, seeing my Piano Technicians Journal sitting unopened on the coffee table, decided to take a few minutes to catch up on the latest PT news and information. I eagerly ripped open the wrapper and opened it to the first, then the second page. On seeing Ed Sutton's "Editorial Perspective" I became immediately discouraged. I turned up the lamp one step brighter, but it was no use.
I first started to notice a few years ago that I was not reading the Journal as much as I did in the late 1990's after I had first joined the PTG. I reasoned that perhaps I had learned so much in the first few years that the reading was not as interesting any more. But whenever I did take the time to sit down and read through an issue, I found it extremely interesting and useful.
Or maybe it was that I was so busy with work and life in general that I just didn't have the time to read the Journal. But I had time to watch TV shows, so that was not the reason.
Then one day I picked up a journal from another field of endeavor and found out that it was easier to read than the PT Journal. Why? As I examined the latest Journal I began to notice that since mid 2000, the type had changed. Before, the print was a dark black ink against a white paper. Now, the Journal was using varying shades of gray, making the print harder to read. I went to the public library and picked up journals from several professions. In each case the print was a dark black against a white paper. None of them used shades of gray!
WHY DO THEY FORCE ME TO STRUGGLE TO READ THEIR INTERESTING ARTICLES?
This is now the tenth year since the Journal articles and other useful information has been printed with shades of gray ink, rather than black ink. Just look at Ed Sutton's article on page 2 of the August 2010 issue and compare it to the Randy Potter advertisement on page 3. Which is easier to read?
Flip through the Journal and look at just about ANY advertisement - page 7, page 9, page 35, and page 38. Now compare the readability of the ads with the text of articles. Why is it that the ads are easier to read. Is it only the advertisers who want their printed material to be read with ease? Why can't the articles be easy to read also?
I discussed this briefly with a former Journal editor and a PTG President last year at a convention. Their answers were a bit vague and unsatisfying.
It can't be that I am the only person out of over 3000 members who would benefit from a return to black print! Why can't someone do a survey among those who still have copies of the Journal dating from before July 2000 and ask them if the Journal articles of today are easier, the same, or harder to read?
Perhaps my near age 65 vision is part of the problem. Yes, I realize that I now have to use my glasses ALL the time to read. But that's no excuse for making it hard on me and many other PTG members in my age group. Actually, I still have relatively good vision.
I'm all for innovation and use of modern graphic design ideas, but not at the expense of readability!
Wally Scherer
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