It slants backwards, there are confusing gaps in every letter and it’s difficult to read.

But the aptly-named Sans Forgetica has a major advantage: it’s believed to improve people’s memories.

In a world first, researchers from RMIT University have designed a font to help people retain information.

Released as tens of thousands of students start studying for their Year 12 exams, the typeface draws from an unusual mix of psychology and typography.

RMIT typography lecturer Stephen Banham, who was part of the three person team that created Sans Forgetica, said the font is a useful study tool.

It's ideal for highlighting important facts that might need to be recalled during an exam, he said, such as dates, historical events and quotes.

“You would certainly never set an entire novel in it,” he said.

“I like to think of it as blue cheese, it works very well in small portions."

The font is based on the psychological principle of ‘desirable difficulty’ and improves memory retention by disrupting normal reading patterns.

An example of the Sans Forgetica font. How many word pairs can you remember?

Unlike traditional fonts, which can be scanned over without creating a memory trace, Sans Forgetica requires a bit of extra work.

Readers have to put in a bit of mental effort to close the gaps in letters, making them dwell on each word for a little longer.

The font also has an unconventional slant to the left, instead of the slant to the right used for italicised text.

This also boosts people's engagement with the words and leads to deeper cognitive processing.

“It should be difficult enough, but not too difficult or too easy,” explained senior lecturer Dr Janneke Blijlevens, who also worked on the project.

“There is an optimal level of difficulty to read which leads to the highest memory retention.”

To find this sweet spot, the researchers recruited 400 university students to test a range of fonts.

Sans Forgetica emerged as the clear winner, subverting the right amount of design rules without becoming completely unreadable.

It was then tested alongside a more conventional font in an online experiment that simulated a mock exam.

Students remembered 57 per cent of a section of text written in Sans Forgetica, compared to 50 per cent of the text written in plain Ariel font. (This story has been published using PT serif.)

Dr Blijlevens said the font could also be used by teachers, or by industries keen to reinforce important messages.

“It can have quite far-reaching implications,” she said.

The researchers are now preparing to publish their findings in a scientific journal.

In the meantime, they are inviting people to download their free font on the RMIT website.

Mr Banham, who has written 17 books about fonts and created 20 typefaces, is eager to see how Sans Forgetica is received.

"Creating a font is a bit like having a child," he said.

"You create this thing and you don't know what is going to happen. There is no certainty about what is going to happen and that is exhilarating."

The font can be downloaded at sansforgetica.rmit