Sally and Jimmy's Rules of Typography

By: Paul Felton

Sally’s Friends Herbert Bayer

1900-1985, Austria Graphic designer and type designer Work includes: German bank notes; Die Neue Linie magazine; Universal typeface

Derek Birdsal

1934-, United Kingdom Graphic designer and writer Work includes: Common Worship; Notes on Book Design; Penguin Books

Matthew Carter

1937-, United Kingdom Type designer and writer, founded Bitsream Work includes: Bell Centennial, Georgia, Shelley Script and Verdana typefaces

Lazar El Lissitzky

1890-1941, Russia Graphic designer, painter and writer Work includes: From Two Quadrants; propaganda poster Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge

Adrian Frutiger

1928-, Switzerland Type designer, associated with Deberney and Peignot, and Linotype Work includes: Univers and Frutiger typefaces

Eric Gill

1882-1940, United Kingdom Type designers, sculptor, carver, print maker and writer Work includes: Essay on Typography; Gill Sans and Perpetua typefaces

Jonathan Hoefler

1970-, United States of America Type designer, founded Hoefler Type Foundry Work includes: Hoefler text, Didot HTF and Pavisse typefaces

Laszlo Moholy-Nagy

1895-1946, Hungary Graphic Designer, sculptor, photographer and writer Work includes: Malerei Fotografie Flim

Josef Muller-Brockmann

1914-1996, Switzerland Graphic designer and writer Work includes: The Graphic Artist and his Design Problems; Zurich Tonhalle posters

Paul Renner

1878-1956, Germany Graphic designer, type designer, painter and writer Work includes: Futura typeface; Typographie als Kunst

Erik Spiekermann

1947-, Germany Graphic designer, type designer and writer, founded Meta Design and FontShop Work includes: Stop Stealing Sheep; Meta, Officina and Info typefaces

Jan Tschichold

1902-1974, Germany Graphic designer, type designer and writer Work includes: Munich film poster; Die Neue Typographie; Penguin Books; Sabon typeface

Jimmy’s Cronies David Carson

1956-, United States of America Works: Sufer and Raygun magazines

Edward Fella

1938-, United States of America Works: Fella Parts and Outwest typeface

Jeffery Keedy

1958-, United States of America Work: Keedy Sons, Hard Times and Lush Us typefaces

Stefan Sagmeister

1962-, Austria Work: Made You Look; cover of Lou Reed album Set the Twilight Reeling

Carlos Segura of T26

1956-, Cuba Work: T26 Font Foundry, Square 45 typeface

Zuzana Licko of Émigré

1961-, Czechoslovakia Work: Émigré magazine; Matrix and Base typefaces

Neville Brody

1957-, United Kingdom Work: Fuse and Arena magazines; Nike adverts

Nick Bell

1965-, United Kingdom Work: British Nuclear Fuel Screen animations; Lost & Found exhibition tablecloths; Eye magazine

Rudy VanderLans of Émigré

1955-, The Netherlands Work: Émigré magazine; Suburbon typeface

Barry Deck

1962-, United States of America Work: Template Gothic and Caustic Biomorph typefaces

Jonathan Barnbrook

1966-. United Kingdom Work: Virus Font Foundry, Mason and Priori typefaces; Adbusters projects; Damien Hirst projects

Michael Worthington

1966-, United Kingdom Work: Typographic Landscapes; X-tra magazines

Phil Baines

1958-, United Kingdom Work: Type & Typography; Penguin Books; Can You? Typeface

Alan Kitching

1940-, United Kingdom Work: Why Iraq? Why Now? poster; Dazed & Confused: the word issue cover

Vince Forst

1964-, United Kingdom Work: Big magazine; Nike adverts; D&AD Report

I. Sally knows that she should only use three typefaces per document.

Sally knows that simplicity is better than the confusion that the use of many typefaces can cause.

Sally is a good girl.

Euphorigenic, 28pt

She always follows the rules.

Honey Script, 21pt

Sally knows that if she follows the rules, her designs will be much better than the other boys and girls. If she strays, her designs will be messy and unattractive. Sally keeps all of her typefaces in order and makes sure she always does what she is told.

Quicksand, 10pt

7

Jimmy feels that using more than three typefaces in a single document can be dynamic and create interest.

I. Jimmy feels the use of more than three typefaces is OK.

Jimmy is a know-it-all.

He does whatever he thinks is best.

Jimmy Feels

that he is in charge of all his designs and therefore

KNOWS

WHATIS

BEST.

He feels the rules will make his design

boring and predictable. Jimmy does whatever he wants to

typefaces

and makes what he

sure he always does

wants

to do.9

II. Sally knows that headlines always need to be large and at the top of the page.

Sally cares about the readers of her designs and knows the best way to show them the headline is to make it large and position it at the top of the page.

Sally is a good girl Euphorigenic, 43pt

She always follows the rules. Sally knows that if she follows the rules, her designs will be much better than the other boys and girls. If she strays, her designs will be messy and unattractive. Sally keeps all of her typefaces in order and makes sure she always does what she is told.

Quicksand, 10pt

11

Jimmy feels a simple font weight is sufficient in showing hierarchy. He also feels headlines shouldn’t have to be at the top of the page. The reader is smart enough to find it on their own.

II. Jimmy feels that making headlines large and placing them at the top of the document is boring.

Jimmy is a know it all. He does whatever he thinks is best. Jimmy feels that he is in charge of all of his designs and therefore knows what is best for everything he does. He feels the rules will make his designs boring and predictable. Jimmy does whatever he wants to typefaces and makes sure he always does what he wants to.

This could be the title.

This could also be the title.

Titles could be anywhere!

13

III. Sally knows that only 8pt10pt size font should be used for all body copy.

Sally wants all of her body copy to be neat and legible. She knows anything smaller would be too difficult too read and anything too larger would be overkill.

Sally is a good girl. She always follows the rules. Sally knows that if she follows the rules, her designs will be much better than the other boys and girls. If she strays, her designs will be messy and unattractive. Sally keeps all of her typefaces in order and makes sure she always does what she is told.

Quicksand, 8pt with 11pt leading

Sally is a good girl. She always follows the rules. Sally knows that if she follows the rules, her designs will be much better than the other boys and girls. If she strays, her designs will be messy and unattractive. Sally keeps all of her typefaces in order and makes sure she always does what she is told.

Quicksand, 9pt with 12pt leading

Sally is a good girl. She always follows the rules.

Sally knows that if she follows the rules, her designs will be much better than the other boys and girls. If she strays, her designs will be messy and unattractive. Sally keeps all of her typefaces in order and makes sure she always does what she is told.

Quicksand, 10pt with 13pt leading

15

Jimmy thinks limiting type to these sizes can make a document boring. He wants to fill the page is body copy.

III. Jimmy feels body copy type shouldn’t be restricted to 8 pt -10 pt font.

Jimmy is a know it all.

He does whatever he thinks is best. Jimmy feels that he is in charge of all of his designs and therefore knows what is best for everything he does. He feels the rules will make his designs boring and predictable. Jimmy does whatever he wants to typefaces and makes sure he always does what he wants to.

Quicksand, 24pt with 28pt leading

Jimmy is a know it all. He does whatever he thinks is best. Jimmy feels that he is in charge of all of his designs and therefore knows what is best for everything he does. He feels the rules will make his designs boring and predictable. Jimmy does whatever he wants to typefaces and makes sure he always does what he wants to.

Quicksand, 6pt with 7pt leading

17

IV. Sally knows that any typeface that is not legible is not truly a typeface.

Sally finds the dingbats and disordered fuse fonts are pointless. You won’t see any of those in Sally’s designs.

Cheshire Initials

Sally is a good girl.

She always follows the rules.

Signerica

Sally is a good girl.

She always follows the rules.

PaperCut

Sally is a good girl. She always follows the rules.

Pincoyablack

Sally is a good girl. She always follows the rules.

Wingdings

19

Typefaces, at the root, are just symbols and therefore Jimmy feels dingbats and the like should be used along with other typefaces.

IV. Jimmy feels if something is considered a typeface, then it is a typeface.

ChunkFive "Q"

The light teal area you can see is a part of a “Q” from the typeface, ChunkFive, which is a legible typeface as you can see above this paragraph. You can’t see that’s it’s a “Q” so it’s not legible. If the Commandments are to be adhered to, in this instance is ChunkFive no longer considered a typeface?

Cheshire Initials, by contrast, is not strictly legible, but it portrays a sense of highly flourished letter forms, so it does, in a sense, communicate as a typeface.

21

V. Sally knows that kerning letters is very important.

If Sally kerns her words so the white space becomes visually equalized, it will save her readers time in figuring out the words.

Sally Sally Without kerning

With kerning

Sally is a good girl.

Loose tracking

Sally is a good girl.

Normal tracking

Sally is a good girl.

Tight tracking

23

Jimmy feels showing different lengths of white space between letters can be interesting and crate a whole new design.

V. Jimmy feels kerning isn’t that important.

is y m J i m

a

k n o

w

it

a l l

.

25

VI. Sally knows how to keep it subtle and not over emphasize the key elements in text.

Sally knows if she over emphasizes elements within her text, her readers will become confused and distracted. And no one wants to feel like that.

Sally is a good girl. She always follows the rules.

Sally knows that if she follows the rules, her designs will be much better than the other boys and girls. If she strays, her designs will be messy and unattractive.

Sally keeps all of her typefaces in order and makes sure she always does what she is told.

Italics

Sally is a good girl. She always follows the rules.

Sally knows that if she follows the rules, her designs will be much better than the other boys and girls. If she strays, her designs will be messy and unattractive. Sally keeps all of her typefaces in order and makes sure she always does what she is told.

Underline

Sally is a good girl. She always follows the rules.

Sally knows that if she follows the rules, her designs will be much better than the other boys and girls. If she strays, her designs will be messy and unattractive. Sally keeps all of her typefaces in order and makes sure she always does what she is told.

Font weight

Sally is a good girl. She always follows the rules.

Sally knows that if she follows the rules, her designs will be much better than the other boys and girls. If she strays, her designs will be messy and unattractive. Sally keeps all of her typefaces in order and makes sure she always does what she is told.

Color

27

Subtlety isn’t in Jimmy’s vocabulary and feels it shouldn’t make its way into any of his designs, ever.

VI. Jimmy feels over emphasizing text in a document entices the reader to look closer.

know it all

Jimmy is a . He does whatever he thinks is best. Jimmy feels that he is in charge of all of his designs and therefore knows what is best for everything he does.

rules

He feels the will make his designs boring and predictable. Jimmy does whatever he wants to typefaces and makes sure he always does

what he wants to.

29

VII. Sally knows never to use all capital letters when setting vast amounts of body copy.

Sally want it to be as easy as possible to read vast amounts of body copy. She knows the varying heights of ascenders and descenders helps to do so.

Sally is a good girl. She always follows the rules.

Sally knows that if she follows the rules, her designs will be much better than the other boys and girls. If she strays, her designs will be messy and unattractive. Sally keeps all of her typefaces in order and makes sure she always does what she is told.

Uppercase and lowercase text

SALLY IS A GOOD GIRL. SHE ALWAYS FOLLOWS THE RULES. SALLY KNOWS THAT IS SHE FOLLOWS THE RULES, HER DESIGNS WILL BE BETTER THAN ALL OF THE OTHER BOYS AND GIRLS. IF SHE STRAYS, HER DESIGNS WILL BE MESSY AND UNATTRACTIVE. SALLY KEEPS ALL OF HER TYPEFACES IN ORDER AND MAKES SURE SHE ALWAYS DOES WHAT SHE IS TOLD. Uppercase text

31

Jimmy knows that the varying geometric forms of some typefaces can create some fairly amazing designs. It also is still fairly easy for his readers to read.

VII. Jimmy feels using all capitals in body copy shows it’s importance.

JIMMY IS A

KNOW IT ALL.

HE DOES WHATEVER HE THINKS IS

BEST. JIMMY FEELS THAT HE IS IN CHARGE

OF ALL OF HIS DESIGNS AND THEREFORE KNOWS WHAT IS BEST

FOR EVERYTHING

HE DOES. HE FEELS THE RULES WILL MAKE HIS DESIGNS

BORING AND PREDICTABLE. JIMMY DOES WHATEVER HE WANTS

TO TYPEFACES AND MAKE SURE HE ALWAYS DOES WHAT HE WANTS TO.

33

VIII. Sally knows she must always align every letter and word on a baseline.

It’s hard to read words when they aren’t positioned on a baseline. Sally always aligns her text on an invisible, straight line.

Sally is ago

od girl.

Word Deviation

She al ways fol lo ws the rules.

Letter Deviation

S a l l y i s a

g o o d g i r l .

Vertical Deviation

35

Typefaces may have been created on a baseline, but Jimmy feels there is no expectation in leaving them that way.

VIII. Jimmy feels aligning letters and words on a baseline is only one way to approach type.

37

IX. Sally knows to always use flush-left, ragged right when aligning her type.

Any other alignment strains the eyes and makes it more difficult to read which is why Sally always uses left align.

Sally is a good girl. She always follows the rules.

Sally knows that if she follows the rules, her designs will be much better than the other boys and girls. If she strays, her designs will be messy and unattractive. Sally keeps all of her typefaces in order and makes sure she always does what she is told.

Flush-left, ragged right text

Sally is a good girl. She always follows the rules.

Sally knows that if she follows the rules, her designs will be much better than the other boys and girls. If she strays, her designs will be messy and unattractive. Sally keeps all of her typefaces in order and makes sure she always does what she is told.

Flush-right, ragged left text

Sally is a good girl. She always follows the rules. Sally knows that if she follows the rules, her designs will be much better than the other boys and girls. If she strays, her designs will be messy and unattractive.

Sally keeps all of her typefaces in order and makes sure she always does what she is told.

Justified text

Sally is a good girl. She always follows the rules.

Sally knows that if she follows the rules, her designs will be much better than the other boys and girls. If she strays, her designs will be messy and unattractive. Sally keeps all of her typefaces in order and makes sure she always does what she is told.

Centered text

39

Jimmy feels using the unusual alignments makes his compositions more interesting.

IX. Jimmy feels using different alignments can be just as legible as using flush left, ragged right.

Jimmy is a know it all.

He does whatever he thinks is best. Jimmy feels that he is in charge of all of his designs and therefore knows what is best for everything he does. He feels the rules will make his designs boring and predictable.

Jimmy does whatever he wants to typefaces and makes sure he always does what he wants.

Jimmy is a know it all. He does whatever he thinks is best. Jimmy feels that he is in charge of all of his designs and therefore knows what is best for everything he does.

He feels the rules will make his designs boring and predictable.

Jimmy does whatever he wants to typefaces and makes sure he always does what he wants to.

41

X. Sally knows not to make lines of text long or short.

If Sally uses between forty and seventy characters per line then her text will be easier for her readers to read.

S f g o

Sally is a good girl. She always follows the rules.

Sally knows that if she follows the rules, her designs will be much better than the other boys and girls. If she strays, her designs will be messy and unattractive. Sally keeps all of her typefaces in order and makes sure she always does what she is told.

Short lines

Sally is a good girl. She always follows the rules.

Sally knows that if she follows the rules, her designs will be much better than the other boys and girls. If she strays, her designs will be messy and unattractive. Sally keeps all of her typefaces in order and makes sure she always does what she is told.

Medium lines

Sally is a good girl. She always follows the rules. Sally knows that if she follows the rules, her designs will be much better than the other boys and girls. If she strays, her designs will be messy and unattractive. Sally keeps of her typefaces in order and makes sure she always does what she is tol Long lines

43

If Jimmy creates long lengths of type, he can lure his readers to different parts of the page they might not have otherwise gone.

X. Jimmy feels making lines of text longer or shorter can lead the reader’s eye around the document.

Jim is my ak e l. H t al

i now r he eve h at

sw doe est

sb

ks i

thin els

y fe mm

. Ji

therefore knows what is best.

He feels the rules will make his designs boring and predictable.

Jimmy does whatever he wants to typefaces and makes sure he always does what he wants to do.

t th a

he

is in

rge

ch a

l of

l of a

his

ns

ig des

and

did you see me?

45

“One of the best books I’ve ever read!”

- Little Billy

“One of the most creative use of typefaces I have seen in years!”

- Johann Gutenburg

“It’s a good wholesome book.

Something Americans are missing today.”

- Mrs. Boyden, Librarian

$2.99 U.S. $4.99 Can.

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