1. Proportions

Notwithstanding the obvious difference in physical dimensions (the blockiness of the Benton is part of its adaptation for use as a text face for screens), the faces are alike in the squatness of their lowercase letters, which have distinctly short ascenders and descenders. Benton Sans has a bit larger x-height than its partner.

Farnham and Benton Sans are regularly proportioned typefaces. Notable in their capitals is the suggestion of rectangles and ovals rather than squares and circles.

The lowercase letters of both are wide. Given that “a well-ventilated” line is easiest to read, openness of letterforms is important when it comes to choosing a text face. In Benton Sans, note the undisturbed simplicity of the apertures with outward-pointing terminals. In Farnham, whose letters tend to be compact, openness is cleverly achieved by the squareness in the counterparts, letting the lowercase letters gently open up.

The very close similarity in proportions — the large x-height and short ascenders and descenders — optimize the readability of both faces for small text blocks and create a more regular and fairly tight (perhaps calmer) leading.

2. Details

Farnham is clever and resourceful in many ways, but its baroque details and vibrancy are always at the service of essentially pragmatic tasks. On closer examination, the businesslike, deliberately plain forms of Benton Sans have almost the same degree of dynamics as Farnham, the serif partner.