{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]],"date-time":"2026-07-30T12:59:25Z","timestamp":1785416365958,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":63,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,7]],"date-time":"2026-07-07T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1783382400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004329","name":"Slovenian Research Agency","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["P2-0450"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["P2-0450"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004329","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"award":["P2-0450"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["P2-0450"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/059bp8k51","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004488","name":"Croatian Science Foundation","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["IP-2022-10-3864"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["IP-2022-10-3864"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004488","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"award":["IP-2022-10-3864"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["IP-2022-10-3864"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/03n51vw80","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"Croatian\u2013Slovenian Bilateral Scientific and Technological Cooperation Programme","award":["BI-HR\/25-27-018"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["BI-HR\/25-27-018"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JEMR"],"abstract":"<jats:p>This study investigated how congruence between pictogram complexity and typographic complexity influences visual processing and perceived appropriateness in multimodal communication. Drawing on theories of visual communication, legibility and aesthetic perception, the study examined whether simple or complex pictograms harmonise more effectively with sans-serif or serif typefaces. Ninety participants viewed stimuli from three thematic categories (cobbler, herbal pharmacy and gluten-free restaurant), while their eye movements were recorded using a Tobii Pro Fusion eye-tracking device. Measures included reading time, fixation count and saccade count, together with subjective evaluations of pictogram\u2013typeface suitability. The results show that reading time was the most sensitive indicator of formal congruence. In the cobbler and gluten-free restaurant categories, simple pictograms increased reading time with sans-serif typography but decreased it with serif typography. In the herbal pharmacy category, simple pictograms and sans-serif typography independently supported faster reading performance. Subjective evaluations showed no significant differences between combinations, indicating that participants perceived all pairings as similarly appropriate despite measurable differences in processing efficiency. The findings suggest that the effectiveness of pictogram\u2013typeface combinations depends on both formal complexity and thematic context. Eye-tracking proved valuable for revealing subtle cognitive processing differences not reflected in subjective judgements.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jemr19040073","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,7]],"date-time":"2026-07-07T09:53:46Z","timestamp":1783418026000},"page":"73","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Effects of Pictogram and Typeface Complexity on Visual Attention: Eye-Tracking Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"19","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8277-4186","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Klementina","family":"Mo\u017eina","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Natural Sciences and Engineering, University of Ljubljana, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8102-0534","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Dorotea","family":"Kova\u010devi\u0107","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Zagreb Faculty of Graphic Arts, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0004-8682-7670","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Petra","family":"Buljat","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Zagreb Faculty of Graphic Arts, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia"},{"name":"Department of Applied Communication Studies, University of Zadar, 23000 Zadar, Croatia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Iva","family":"\u0160ar\u010devi\u0107","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Zagreb Faculty of Graphic Arts, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6250-8913","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Barbara","family":"Blaznik","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Natural Sciences and Engineering, University of Ljubljana, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Tanja","family":"Medved","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Natural Sciences and Engineering, University of Ljubljana, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9955-2099","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Maja","family":"Brozovi\u0107","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Zagreb Faculty of Graphic Arts, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,7]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"Friedl, F., Ott, N., and Stein, B. 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