Spelling It Out: How to Make Words Legible on a Peg Board
Sooner or later someone wants to write a name, a birthday message or the word that cannot be said at the dinner table. Lettering on a coarse grid is a proper design problem, and the reason most attempts come out unreadable has nothing to do with handwriting.
Count before you commit
A letter needs a minimum of five rows in height to stay legible, and seven is far more comfortable. Multiply that by the number of lines you want and compare it with the rows available: anyone choosing a board with message work in mind will find the grid dimensions of the current range through Lite-Brite, and columns matter more here than any other feature. Most disappointments happen because the word was started at the left edge with no plan, and the last two letters ended up squashed into three columns.
Choose a grid-friendly alphabet
Curves are the enemy. Capitals built from straight strokes and right angles, in the manner of a stencil or an old arcade display, read cleanly at low resolution. Lower case with its ascenders, descenders and round bowls needs at least seven rows before it stops looking like a smudge.
The diagonal problem
Letters with diagonals give the most trouble because a diagonal on a grid is a staircase. The trick is consistency: always step one across for one down within a single letter, so all the diagonals in the word have the same slope. Mismatched staircases are what makes hand-built lettering look amateurish.
Space is part of the letter
Leave one empty column between letters and three between words, and never let two words touch. On a light board the gaps are the black paper, and they do the same job as the leading in a stained glass window. If a message will not fit with proper spacing, shorten the message rather than tightening the gaps.
Colour choices that help reading
- Use one colour for the whole word; rainbow lettering destroys legibility.
- Keep the brightest colour for the text and anything decorative dimmer.
- Outline a word in a second colour only if the letters are at least seven rows tall.
- Avoid dark blue and deep violet for text, since they read as gaps from a distance.
Numbers, ages and the classic birthday panel
A large single digit for an age is the most reliable message anyone builds, because one big number fills the board and cannot be misread. Figures are also easier than letters, with fewer awkward curves. If the plan is a name and an age, put the number in the centre and the name below it in small capitals.
What to do with a finished message
Peg lettering is temporary by nature, so photograph it the moment it is finished and in a darkened room. A picture of the panel is what actually gets sent to a grandparent, and it survives the inevitable moment when the board is tipped out for the next project. Nobody has ever regretted taking the photograph; plenty have regretted skipping it.