I’m planning to rent several so-called “Jr. Poster” billboards (about 5 by 11ft), displaying several paragraphs of text (black text on white background).
I was wondering, what is the minimum font size I should use? I’m aware that this ultimately depends on the viewing distance and other factors, but I was wondering if you have suggestions. Some of the paragraphs are rather long and obviously I’d like to include everything, preferably not having to cut down the text more than I already have.
If these are true roadside billboards, it doesn’t do you any good to print more text than can be read in 5 seconds, the speed of the average car going by a billboard.
As for font sizes, print some out, tape em to a wall, preferably at the end of a long hallway or outside on the building, then start backing up to your estimated viewing distance. Print out something that isn’t a word, so your eye doesn’t fill in the word for you. Better too is if you can bring a companion along who doesn’t know what letters you used.