Handwriting (Photo credit: chrischapman)

New scientific research revealed (January 2011)  that students learn better when learning is made harder, specifically when using a font that is more challenging to read. Neuroscience blogger Jonah Lehrer discusses his own gut feeling that we remember ugly fonts much more easily.

Comically ugly fonts are the best.

So perhaps I should blog like this?

Try these:

And what about handwriting?

‘It’s a really interesting way to convey information’, says Jonah Lehrer, ‘as it can take a lot of work to decipher handwriting’.

How about these for examples if you’ve forgotten what handwriting looks like?

or this?

Let’s get back to handwriting.

Or find a way to handwrite here. With a stylus and tablet?

The handwritten note, letter, or journal entry tells you something about the writer’ mood, gender, age, level of education (or intoxication), even their occupation.

I’ve collected hand-written letters between 1969 and 1993 from family members and friends, including my grandfather whose 1918 RAF Log Book I feature above. If ever published, these artefacts will be best read in their original form rather than transcribed.

Related articles

• Dying Art of Handwriting (penroom.wordpress.com)
• Technology: Brilliant Invention or Laziness Enabler (v3im.com)
• Day 182: In Which Computer Imitates Life… Almost. (bluerosegirl08.wordpress.com)