A Roadmap to Typography: Typographic Workbook by Kaylee

A DESIGNER’S MAP TO TYPOGRAPHY KAYLEE CART

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TABLE OF CONTENTS 01

Rules Check Sheet

02 Typographic Rules

Accent Marks, Special Characters

04 Quotes, Apostrophes, Inch, Foot

05 Hyphens, Dashes

06 Small Capitals

Numerals, Figures

08 Typographic Color

09 Words, Lines, Paragraphs

Line Length, Column Width

11 Kerning

Hyphenation Rules

Justification Settings

RULES OF THE ROAD: A DESIGNER’S MAP TO TYPOGRAPHY

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CHAPTER ONE: RULES CHECK SHEET

RULES OF THE ROAD: A DESIGNER’S MAP TO TYPOGRAPHY

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Designer Checklist AVOID — Avoid more than 3 hyphenations in a row. — Avoid too many hyphenations in any paragraph. — Avoid hyphenating or line brakes of names and proper nouns. — Avoid beginning consecutive lines with the same word. — Avoid ending consecutive lines with the same word. — Avoid ending lines with the words: the, of, at, a, by. — Avoid combining two sans serif fonts on one page. — Avoid combining more than three typefaces on one page.

NEVER — Never use the spacebar to align text, always set tabs and use the tab key. — Never hyphenate a words in a headline and avoid hyphenation in a callout. — Never justify the text on a short line (widow). — Never have one line in a paragraph in the column or following (orphan). — Never combine two serif fonts on one page. — Never have widows or orphans.

RULES OF THE ROAD: A DESIGNER’S MAP TO TYPOGRAPHY

ALWAYS — Always make sure the apostrophes are where they belong. — Always hang the punctuation off the aligned edge. — Always kern all headlines where necessary. — Always leave a least 2 characters on the line and 3 following. — Always keep the word spacing consistent. — Always tighten up the leading in lines with all caps or with few ascenders and descenders. — Always either indent the first line of paragraphs or add extra space between them, not both. — Always spend the time to create a nice fraction or choose a font that has fractions.

USE — Use only one space between sentences. — Use real quotation marks. — Use real apostrophes. — Use a one-em first-line indent on all indented paragraphs. — Use a decimal or right-aligned tab for the numbers in numbered paragraphs. — Use the special characters whenever necessary, including super- and subscript. — Use en or em dashes consistently. — Use a one-em first-line indent on all indented paragraphs. — Use a decimal or right-aligned tab for the numbers in numbered paragraphs. — Use the special characters whenever necessary, including super- and subscript. — Use accent marks on words that need them.

CHAPTER 01

CHAPTER TWO:

TYPOGRAPHY RULES 08

Type Crimes, typographic sins, things you should never do with type are committed everyday. How important is typographic correctness and how unforgivable are the crimes? Typographers have compiled a number of type crimes that have been labeled as “unforgivable.”

RULES OF THE ROAD: A DESIGNER’S MAP TO TYPOGRAPHY

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1. Insert only a single space after all punctuation Inserting two spaces after a period was common when using a typewriter. Monospace typefaces were designed to occupy the same amount of space no matter the width of the character. Therefore, two spaces were needed to identify the end of a sentence and the beginning of another sentence. With the introduction of the Mac and digital type, characters are designed proportionately, which allows for the correct practice of using one space after all punctuation.

2. Use proper ‘em’ dashes, ‘en’ dashes, and hyphens An em is a unit of measure equal to the point size that you are using. An em dash is a type of punctuation used to offset clauses in a sentence or to indicate an abrupt change in thought. An en dash is equal to half the length of an em dash. En dashes are used to denote duration (time.)

3. Use proper quote and apostrophe marks Use true quotation marks and apostrophes instead of using inch marks and feet marks. Place all punctuations inside the quotation marks. Straight quotes are the two generic vertical quotation marks located near the return key: the straight single quote (‘) and the straight double quote (“). Curly quotes are the quotation marks used in good typography. There are four curly quote characters: the opening single quote (‘), the closing single quote (’), the opening double quote (“), and the closing double quote (”).

4. Use true small caps When setting text that contains acronyms, select a typeface with small caps as a family. Selecting small caps from the style menus is a poor choice because the computer reduces the overall size of the type by 80%. This changes the stroke weight and the feel of the font. Expert sets in the Adobe Type Library have small caps options.

5. Use copyright, register, and trademark marks properly The copyright, register, and trademark characters need to be reduced to work with body text. At times, depending on the typeface, you may need to reduce the mark between 50% and 70%. The goal is to match the x-height. The copyright mark should be approximately 70% of the surrounding text. Unlike the ™ symbol, the © should NOT be superscripted and should remain on the baseline. ™ is usually superscripted for the chosen font. ™ and ® are normally set higher than other marks. If you choose superscript ®, reduce it to about 60% of the size.

RULES OF THE ROAD: A DESIGNER’S MAP TO TYPOGRAPHY

6. Avoid underlined text This was useful back in the days of the typewriter to draw attention to the text. With digital type and their families, you should not need to use underlined text.

7. Avoid altering fonts Don’t alter the original typeface by stretching or condensing the letters improperly. Certain type families provide you with a lot of flexibility, so you should not need to destroy/alter text.

8. Set the body copy size Body text is set anywhere from 9-12 points. When you print text, it is usually larger than what it looked like on the screen. Do not use the program default setting for body type or leading. Type studies will help you determine the proper size before you proceed with your layout.

9. Find the proper line length Lines should not be too long; the reader’s eye may have difficulty finding the beginning of the next line. Especially when leading is tight. Lines should not be too short. Very short lines offer little flexibility for adjusting word and letter spacing. A rough rule of thumb, 45 - 70 characters per line is a good average for paragraphs. Longer lines will need more leading. For multi—column layouts the range could be between 35 - 55 characters per line.

10. Increase leading Leading refers to the space between lines of text. It is important for readability and appearance. Leading is measured from baseline to baseline. As a rule of thumb, allow leading that is 120% of the point size. For sans serif, you may need 130% or more.

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11. Avoid letterspacing lowercase Don’t letterspace body copy as it really hampers legibility. Fred Goudy, one of the most prolific and well-known American type designers of the 20th century, is reported to have said, “Anyone who would letterspace lowercase would steal sheep.” So take heed! Adding space between lowercase letters is considered poor typography because it breaks up the word shapes made by upper and lowercase letters. These shapes are what the brain recognizes when we read, so this type crime severely reduces readability.

12. Add letter spacing to capitalized text and small caps Add letter spacing (tracking) to all cap text or when using small caps. To increase legibility add tracking to headlines, subheads, or any instances when you are using all capital letters.

13. Kerning in headlines Adjust the space between two particular letters to allow for more consistent negative space.

14. Word spacing should be fairly close For text meant for extended reading, the amount of space between words in a paragraph should be fairly close–about the width of a lowercase “i.” If the word spacing is too close, it appears as one giant word and legibility is decreased. Keep the spaces between words fairly thin, consistent and even!

15. Choose the alignment that fits Make sure the alignment chosen for all areas of text are legible and consistent with the design and guidelines. Left-aligned text is easier to read and set. Justified text is harder to set w/o inevitable word spacing problems. Rightaligned and centered are generally not used for body copy.

RULES OF THE ROAD: A DESIGNER’S MAP TO TYPOGRAPHY

16. Rules of hyphenation Don’t rely on the software to judge where hyphens should be placed. At the end of lines, leave at least two characters behind and take at least three forward. For example, “ele-gantly” is acceptable, but “elegant-ly” is not because it takes too little of the word to the next line. Avoid leaving the stub end of a hyphenated word or any word shorter than four letters as the last line of a paragraph. Avoid more than 3 consecutive hyphenated lines. Avoid hyphenating or breaking proper names and titles. Creating a non-breaking space before and after the name will ensure that the name will not break.

17. Avoid beginning consecutive lines with the same word Since software programs deal with line breaks automatically based upon a number of variables, it is possible to have paragraphs with three consecutive lines beginning with the same word. When this happens simply adjust the text to avoid/fix the problem.

18. Avoid widows and orphans Widows are either single words alone on a line or single sentences alone on a new page. Orphans are single lines of copy alone at the end of a page. Try to eliminate these unsightly stray words at the ends of paragraphs or tops of pages. They create visual holes in the flow of text. Methods to eliminate widows and orphans include inserting manual line breaks, making minute adjustments to the column width, and editing the copy to add or cut words.

19. Indents In continuous text, mark all paragraphs after the first with an indent of at least one “em” (or about the amount of the leading). Do not use the space bar but rather create a tab for the indent you want.

20. Always spell check! Once you are finished with your design, spell check the text. If text is given to you by anyone check it. Never ever assume that it is correct.

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CHAPTER THREE:

SPECIAL CHARACTERS Accent marks and special characters are often necessary in typographic work. These characters could be beyond the standard layout of the keyboard or be unfamiliar. There are different keyboard shortcuts that can make this process much easier.

RULES OF THE ROAD: A DESIGNER’S MAP TO TYPOGRAPHY

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A DESIGNER’S

ShortCut Keyboard shortcuts for special characters ´ Option e ` Option ~ ¨ Option u ˜ Option n ˆ Option i

RULES OF THE ROAD: A DESIGNER’S MAP TO TYPOGRAPHY

BEYOND THE STANDARD LAYOUT OF THE KEYBOARD, YOU WILL FIND that producing typographic work may require you to use accents on characters or use punctuation and symbols that are unfamiliar to you. Accent marks (sometimes referred to simply as accents, diacritics or diacriticals) and accented characters are important elements in both written and spoken language, and, by extension, in typography. While their use in English is largely confined to proper names or “borrowed” words of foreign origin, such as résumé and tête-à-tête, they occur frequently in several other European languages, including Spanish, French, Italian, German and Portuguese. Creating accented characters may be achieved by typing combinations of ‘alt’ + accent key followed by the character. (different on the PC) The most common accents are the acute (á, é, í, ó, ú), grave (è), circumflex (â, î or ô), tilde (ñ), umlaut and dieresis (ä, ë, ï, ö, ü, ÿ) – the same symbol is used for two different purposes), and cedilla (ç). Accent marks usually appear above a character.

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One exception is the cedilla, which appears directly underneath the letter c; several less common accent marks appear next to the character. These small yet significant symbols indicate pronunciation, including emphasis. In some instances, the accent mark also clarifies the meaning of a word, which might be different without the accent. With names and other proper nouns, neglecting to include the correct accent marks can be seen as a sign of disrespect. Accented characters can be accessed either directly from the glyph panel or by using specific key combinations; many more can be created on-the-fly by using key commands to add the floating accent to create the desired character. Note that keyboard commands vary between Mac and other PC software, as well as for nonU.S. keyboard layouts.

keyboard ShortCuts

“

Option [

opening double quote

”

Option Shift [

closing double quote

‘

Option ]

opening single quote

’

Option Shift ]

closing single quote; apostrophe

–

Option hyphen

en dash

—

Option Shift hyphen

em dash

…

Option ; ellipsis

•

Option 8 bullet

ﬁ

Option Shift 5

ligature of f and i

ﬂ

Option Shift 6

ligature of f and l

Option g copyright

™

Option 2 trademark

Option r registered

Option Shift 8 degree

Option 4 cents

⁄

Option Shift 1

fraction bar

Option 1

inverted exclamation point

Option Shift ?

inverted question mark

Option 3

pound sign

RULES OF THE ROAD: A DESIGNER’S MAP TO TYPOGRAPHY

Use copyright, register, and trademark marks properly. Register, trademark and copyright symbols are important communicators. They help establish brand identities and protect creative work from theft or plagiarism. Despite their legal and symbolic power, these symbols need to speak softly, typographically speaking. Their tasteful and appropriate use is a small but significant part of good typography.

unobtrusive. Here are some general guidelines: At text sizes, set these symbols a little smaller than half the x-height of your text. As your text gets larger, the symbols should become proportionately smaller, especially in headlines.

The copyright, register, and trademark characters need to be reduced to work with body text. When using a ® or a ™ after a word, adjust the point size so the symbol looks clean and legible yet

Use the ellipsis character and NOT three periods. You can access the ellipsis by typing Option + : (colon). Allow a small amount of space before and after. However, if it is not crowding the text, leave no space at all.

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RULES OF THE ROAD: A DESIGNER’S MAP TO TYPOGRAPHY

C H A P T E R FO U R : APOSTROPHES & QUOTES

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There are two types of quote marks. Dumb quotes are the two generic vertical quotation marks located near the return key and smart quotes (smart quotes) are the quotation marks used in good typography. It is important to recognize the difference between these two marks. They each have their own specific uses.

STRAIGHT QUOTES ARE THE TWO GENERIC VERTICAL QUOTATION marks located near the return key and curly quotes (smart quotes) are the quotation marks used in good typography. There are four curly quote characters: the opening single quote (‘), the closing single quote (’), the opening double quote (“), and the closing double quote (”). Use true quotation marks and apostrophes instead of using inch marks and feet marks. Place all punctuations inside the quotation marks use “and” – not "and". Most software applications will convert the straight (typewriter) quotes to the real quotes automatically as you type. It is necessary to know how to set smart quotes/ real quotes yourself because sometimes the software doesn’t do it, or does it incorrectly. An apostrophe indicates the possessive case (Jessica’s bagel). And used in contractions, an apostrophe takes the place of letters or numbers that have been removed. For possessives: Turn the phrase around. The apostrophe will be placed after whatever word you end up with. For example, in the phrase the boys’ camp, to know where to place the apostrophe say to yourself, “The camp belongs to the boys.” The phrase the boy’s camp says “The camp belongs to the boy.”

The big exception to this is “its.” “Its” is used as a possessive never has an apostrophe! The word it only has an apostrophe as a contraction — “it’s” always means “it is” or “it has.” Always. It may be easier to remember if you recall that yours, hers, and his don’t use apostrophes — and neither should its. For contractions: The apostrophe replaces the missing letter. For example: you’re always means you are; the apostrophe is replacing the a from are. That’s an easy way to distinguish it from your as in your house and to make sure you don’t say: Your going to the store. As previously noted, it’s means “it is”; the apostrophe is indicating where the i is left out. Don’t means “do not”; the apostrophe is indicating where the ‘o’ is left out. For omission of letters: In a phrase such as Rock ’n’ Roll, there should be an apostrophe before and after the n, because the a and the d are both left

RULES OF THE ROAD: A DESIGNER’S MAP TO TYPOGRAPHY

“WHEN PRIMES ARE CALLED FOR, THEY OFTEN INCORRECTLY APPEAR AS SMART QUOTES, DUE TO THE COMMONLY APPLIED DEFAULT SETTING IN BOTH WORD PROCESSING AND DESIGN SOFTWARE. ” out. And don’t turn the first apostrophe around — just because it appears in front of the letter does not mean you need to use the opposite single quote. An apostrophe is still the appropriate mark (not 'n'). In a phrase such as House o’ Fashion, the apostrophe takes the place of the f. There is not earthly reason for an apostrophe to be set before the o. In a phrase such as Gone Fishin’ the same pattern is followed — the g is missing. In a date when part of the year is left out, an apostrophe needs to indicate the missing year. “In the 80s” would mean the temperature; “In the ’80s” would mean the decade. (Notice there is no apostrophe before the s! Why would there be? It is not possessive, nor is it a contraction — it is plural.) When typesetting measurements, the proper indicators for inches and feet are primes, which

CHAPTER 04

in most fonts requires the use of aptly-named typewriter quotes. Unfortunately, when primes are called for, they often incorrectly appear as smart, or typographer’s quotes, due to the commonly applied default setting in both word processing and design software. This default automatically replaces typewriter quotes with the smart variety, which are the typographically correct glyphs for setting quotation marks and apostrophes. Foot and inch marks—also known as minute and second marks or prime and double prime marks, depending on what they’re labeling—are not curly. In the absence of a simple way to override this automatic software replacement, the best fix is to manually convert back to primes any smart quotes appearing in measurements. Primes are accessed via the glyph panel or character viewer.

Smart & DUmb Quotes SMART QUOTES – correct “That’s a ‘magic’ shoe” “Take a left turn at Main Street,” the GPS said. “In the ‘80s, I lived in New York,” Mom said. DUMB QUOTES – incorrect "That’s a 'magic' shoe" "Take a left turn at Main Street," the GPS said. "In the '80s, I lived in New York," Mom said.

SMART QUOTES SHORTCUTS

“

Option [

opening double quote

”

Option Shift [

closing double quote

‘

Option ]

opening single quote

’

Option Shift ]

closing single quote; apostrophe

RULES OF THE ROAD: A DESIGNER’S MAP TO TYPOGRAPHY

DUMB QUOTES – correct Bridge Clearance: 16' 7" The young man stood 6' 2" The length of the wall is 153' 9" Minutes Seconds 3'15" SMART QUOTES – incorrect Bridge Clearance: 16’ 7” The young man stood 6’ 2” The length of the wall is 153’ 9” Minutes Seconds 3’15”

SMART QUOTES SHORTCUTS

CHAPTER 04

" Control Shift ‘

straight double quote

straight single quote

Control ‘

CHAPTER FIVE: HYPHENS, DASHES

Hyphens, en dashes, and em dashes are very important in typography. The three can often be confused and end up being used for the wrong purposes. However, there are a set of rules to determine which one should be used in every situation. Designers should know these differences.

RULES OF THE ROAD: A DESIGNER’S MAP TO TYPOGRAPHY

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HYPHEN EN DASH – EM DASH —

RULES OF THE ROAD: A DESIGNER’S MAP TO TYPOGRAPHY

HYPHENS, EN AND EM DASHES ARE AMONG THE MOST MISUNderstood and misused punctuation marks in typography. While their appearance is generally similar, they have distinct designs and serve specific functions. These three marks are not interchangeable, and knowing the difference is key to setting type correctly. Use proper ‘em’ dashes, ‘en’ dashes, and hyphens. Never use two hyphens instead of a dash. Hyphens, en and em dashes come in many styles and lengths. Note that while the em dashes on the left are in proportion to the ‘n’s and ‘m’s, those on the right are much longer than even their respective cap ‘M’s.

in relative length from typeface to typeface. The best–looking en dashes are frequently designed to approximate the width of the cap or lowercase N, which makes them proportionally pleasing to the overall width of the particular typeface.

The hyphen is the shortest of the three marks, and is used to hyphenate a word at the end of a line by breaking after a syllable. Hyphens are also used to join separate words into a compound word, such as dyed–in–the–wool; and to separate the digits in phone and account numbers. A hyphen can be designed as a simple horizontal stroke, or it can have characteristics that match the rest of the typeface.

In a page layout application, the en dash can be used with a thin space on either side of it. If you want you can kern it so it is not a full space.

To type an en dash, hold the Option key down, then tap the hyphen key. The en dash is longer than the hyphen and shorter than the em dash (about the width of a capital N). It is used to indicate a duration of time (also referred to as a span or a range) such as Monday – Friday, 9am – 5pm, often replacing prepositions such as “to” and “through”. Historically, the en dash was half the length of the em dash, but today both marks vary

CHAPTER 05

To type an em dash, Hold the Shift and Option keys down, then tap the hyphen key. The em dash is the longest of the three marks, and is used to indicate a break in thought, or to set off a thought within a thought. Historically—particularly in metal type—the em dash was the length of the em square in a given point size of type, except for some condensed designs which had shorter dashes. An em is a unit of measure equal to the width of the point size of type; thus, an em dash in 18 point type often was 18 points long. When phrases are interjected between other parts of a sentence, they are usually punctuated by surrounding them with commas, parentheses or em dashes (—).

HYPHEN -

EN DASH –

Knowing the difference between a hyphen, en dash, and em dash is very important. They are all slightly different sizes and have different uses. These three marks are not interchangeable, and knowing the difference is key to setting type correctly. Use proper ‘em’ dashes, ‘en’ dashes, and hyphens. Never use two hyphens instead of a dash.

EM DASH —

Using two hyphens -- instead of an em dash is typographically incorrect. This treatment is a holdover from the typewriter, which offers no dash on the keyboard. Be sure to search for any double hyphens and other misuses of hyphens and/ or dashes, and to replace them with the correct punctuation.

RULES OF THE ROAD: A DESIGNER’S MAP TO TYPOGRAPHY

HYPHEN - (COMPOUND WORDS) dyed–in–the–wool check-in twenty-two

EN DASH – (REPLACE “TO” OR “THROUGH”) October – December 6:30 – 8:45 A.M. 4 – 6 years of age

EM DASH — (NEW THOUGHT OR ATTRIBUTION) The regulations were updated—because the law changed—to require training every two years. Yes, I will help you—absolutely! “A lie can travel around the world and back again while the truth is lacing up its boots.” —Mark Twain.

CHAPTER 05

CHAPTER SIX: SMALL CAPS

Small caps are uppercase letterforms that are shorter in height than the capitals letters. They are designed to blend with lowercase text. When designed as part of a typeface, they are most often the height of the lowercase x (or very slightly taller).

RULES OF THE ROAD: A DESIGNER’S MAP TO TYPOGRAPHY

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SMALL CAPS ARE UPPERCASE LETTERFORMS THAT ARE SHORTER IN height than the capitals letters. They are designed to blend with lowercase text. When designed as part of a typeface, they are most often the height of the lowercase x (or very slightly taller). Small capitals have been around since the sixteenth century. Small caps are relatively wide; they have the same height as the lower case x (or sometimes slightly higher). Their proportions are studier and wider than the capital letters. True small caps have line weights that are proportionally correct for the typeface. Avoid “fake” small caps. Avoid simply resizing capital letters or using the small caps feature in some programs. Computer programs can generate small caps for any typeface, but those are not the same as true small caps. The program is taking the capital letters and shrinking them down about 80%. This changes the stroke weight and the feel of the font. Fake small caps will appear narrow and thin.

Small caps are basically used in two ways. They substitute all capital words and acronyms in side body text. They are also used as a stylistic device to add another color to the designer’s palette without having to add a different font. When using a string of small caps to replace all caps — in a title, subtitle, a label, etc — they require generous tracking. Use small caps for acronyms. Set acronyms such as NASA or NASDAQ in small caps when they appear in body text or headlines. Use small caps for common abbreviations. Set common abbreviations such as AM or PM in small caps so they don’t overpower the accompanying text. Use small caps for A.M. and P.M.; space once after the number, and use periods.

RULES OF THE ROAD: A DESIGNER’S MAP TO TYPOGRAPHY

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Serif Filosofia

Two NASA astronauts are scheduled to venture outside the International Space Station to finish installing a European science platform and complete long-term battery upgrade work. NASA will preview the work during a news conference at 3:00PM EST. The FBI, CIA and NCAA have no jurisdiction on space walks.

Two nasa astronauts are scheduled to venture outside the International Space Station to finish installing a European science platform and complete long-term battery upgrade work. nasa will preview the work during a news conference at 3:00pm est. The fbi, cia and ncaa have no jurisdiction on space walks.

Mrs Eaves

MVB Sirenne

Two nasa astronauts are scheduled to venture outside the International Space Station to finish installing a European science platform and complete long-term battery upgrade work. nasa will preview the work during a news conference at 3:oopm est. The fbi, cia and ncaa have no jurisdiction on space walks.

RULES OF THE ROAD: A DESIGNER’S MAP TO TYPOGRAPHY

LTC SquareFace

Dolly

Ratio Modern

Two NASA astronauts are scheduled to venture outside the International Space Station to finish installing a European science platform and complete longterm battery upgrade work. NASA will preview the work during a news conference at 3:00PM EST. The FBI, CIA and NCAA have no jurisdiction on space walks.

CHAPTER 06

Sans P22 Underground

Auto

RULES OF THE ROAD: A DESIGNER’S MAP TO TYPOGRAPHY

Niveau Grotesk

CHAPTER 06

RULES OF THE ROAD: A DESIGNER’S MAP TO TYPOGRAPHY

CHAPTER SEVEN:

NUMERALS, FIGURES Numbers are used very frequently in text and are something all designers need to know how to treat. Lining figures are one of the two styles of figures, with the other being Oldstyle. Some fonts offer both styles.

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NUMBERS ARE A COMMON ELEMENT IN TEXT. THEY ARE USED TO indicate dates, times, addresses, measurements quantities, prices and other data. In typography, the symbols used to represent numbers are commonly referred to as figures or numerals. The uppercase alphabet came from the inscriptional capitals of the Romans. The lowercase came from the European uncial alphabets of the Middle Ages. The numerals or figures we are used to were invented in India. They then spread west due to the influence of Persian and Arab mathematicians. Lining figures are one of the two styles of figures, with the other being Oldstyle. Serif fonts often have goth variations figures. Sans serif typefaces typically only have Lining figures. This is changing with the more contemporary fonts. Some fonts offer both styles. Lining Figures (also called aligning, cap, or modern figures) approximate capital letters in that they are uniform in height, and generally align with the baseline and the cap height. They are useful in tables, invoices, content where the numbers need to align for better legibility. Lining figures are commonly offered in two spacing formats, proportional and tabular. Proportional lining figures are the preferred style for all-cap settings, such as headlines, titles, and such. They are also effective anywhere that additional emphasis is desired for the figures, even in running text. Tabular lining figures are the preferred style for

columns of numbers, such as tables, price lists, financial data, and listings. It should be noted when lining figures are used in body text they will stand out just like USING ALL CAPS WOULD. In running text this is undesirable. In this case, old style figures are better suited in body text. Oldstyle Figures (also known as non-lining, lowercase, hanging, or text figures) have varying heights and alignments, as opposed to lining figures, which are of uniform height and alignment. Oldstyle figures are similar to lowercase characters in that they share the same x-height and have ascenders (the 6 and 8) and descenders (the 3, 4, 5, 7 and 9). Unlike lining figures, Oldstyle figures blend in without disturbing the color of the body copy. They also work well in headlines since they’re not as intrusive as lining figures. In fact, many people prefer them overall for most uses except charts and tables. It’s well worth the extra effort to track down and obtain typefaces with oldstyle figures; the fonts that contain them might well become some of your favorites.

RULES OF THE ROAD: A DESIGNER’S MAP TO TYPOGRAPHY

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OLD STYLE

Dolly

British colonists founded the Jamestown Settlement on May 14, 1607. This colony was named for King James I of England. In 1803, the United States acquired 828,000 square miles of land in the Louisiana territory. This land was originally owned by France, but Thomas Jefferson negotiated a deal to purchase it for just $11,250,000. The United States also agreed to forgive $3,750,000 worth of France’s debts. The northern states started making slavery illegal in 1776. In 1804,

the last northern state finally abolished slavery. In 1863, Abraham Lincoln freed more than 3,000,000 slaves with the Emancipation Proclamation. He actually wrote the proclamation in 1862, but it did not take effect until January 1, 1863. In 1920, women were granted the right to vote with the addition of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution. The amendment was introduced in 1878, but it was not ratified until 1920.

Bely

finally abolished slavery. In 1863, Abraham Lincoln freed more than 3,000,000 slaves with the Emancipation Proclamation. He actually wrote the proclamation in 1862, but it did not take effect until January 1, 1863. In 1920, women were granted the right to vote with the addition of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution. The amendment was introduced in 1878, but it was not ratified until 1920.

Mrs Eaves

RULES OF THE ROAD: A DESIGNER’S MAP TO TYPOGRAPHY

0123456789 0123456789 0123456789

CHAPTER 07

LINING FIGURES Century Gothic Pro

Zeitung Pro

Times

British colonists founded the Jamestown Settlement

illegal in 1776. In 1804, the last northern state finally

on May 14, 1607. This colony was named for King

abolished slavery. In 1863, Abraham Lincoln freed

James I of England. In 1803, the United States

more than 3,000,000 slaves with the Emancipation

acquired 828,000 square miles of land in the

Proclamation. He actually wrote the proclamation in

Louisiana territory. This land was originally owned

1862, but it did not take effect until January 1, 1863. In

by France, but Thomas Jefferson negotiated a deal

1920, women were granted the right to vote with the

to purchase it for just $11,250,000. The United States

addition of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution.

also agreed to forgive $3,750,000 worth of France’s

The amendment was introduced in 1878, but it was

debts. The northern states started making slavery

not ratified until 1920.

British colonists founded the Jamestown Settlement on

1776. In 1804, the last northern state finally abol-

May 14, 1607. This colony was named for King James

ished slavery. In 1863, Abraham Lincoln freed more

I of England. In 1803, the United States acquired

than 3,000,000 slaves with the Emancipation

828,000 square miles of land in the Louisiana ter-

Proclamation. He actually wrote the proclamation in

ritory. This land was originally owned by France, but

1862, but it did not take effect until January 1, 1863. In

Thomas Jefferson negotiated a deal to purchase it

1920, women were granted the right to vote with the

for just $11,250,000. The United States also agreed

addition of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution.

to forgive $3,750,000 worth of France’s debts. The

The amendment was introduced in 1878, but it was not

northern states started making slavery illegal in

ratified until 1920.

RULES OF THE ROAD: A DESIGNER’S MAP TO TYPOGRAPHY

0123456789 0123456789 0123456789 CHAPTER 07

TABS Default

Week

134

268

Hours

12.75

x 15.10

Week

1023

323

x 3.00

Week

4210

120

x .75

1056.5

Left Aligning

Right Aligning

Decimal Aligning

Week

134

268

Hours 12.75

15.10

Week

1023

323

3.00

Week

4210

120

.75

1056.5

100.00

Week 12

134

268

Hours 12.75

15.10

Week 13

1023

323

3.00

Week 15

4210

120

.75

1056.5

100.00

Week 12

134

268

Hours

12.75 x

Week 13

1023

323

3.00

4210

120

.75

1056.5

100.00

Week

x 100

15.10

RULES OF THE ROAD: A DESIGNER’S MAP TO TYPOGRAPHY

Tab stops are useful in typesetting both words and numbers. They can help organize columns of information in charts, graphs and lists, as well as align figures in annual reports, invoices and price lists, including menus. Tabs are widely used to set paragraph indents as well as hanging indents, also called outdents (although many

CHAPTER ##

would argue that the proper way to do this is with the First Line Indent feature of your software). In any case, setting customized tabs is always preferable to simply using your software’s built-in tab stops, which are usually set to halfinch intervals by default.

Every typeface has its own apparent lightness, darkness, or optical weight. In typography, typographic color can be describe the balance between black and white on the page of text. A typeface’s color is determined by stroke width, x-height, character width and serif styles.

C H A P T E R E I G H T:

TYPOGRAPHIC COLOR

RULES OF THE ROAD: A DESIGNER’S MAP TO TYPOGRAPHY

CHAPTER ##

THE TERM ‘TYPOGRAPHIC COLOR’ IS USED IN DESIGN TO REFER TO the overall quality or texture that a font or type setting may have. Many typographers prefer an evenness or grayness of color. Typographic color can describe the balance between black and white on the page of text. A typeface’s typographic color is determined by stroke width, x-height, character width and serif styles. Readability and legibility are two key elements of printed text that a designer should strive to maximize. Legibility and readability both relate to the ease and clarity with which one reads any particular setting of type, but they actually refer to two different concepts: legibility is the design of the typeface and the shape of the glyphs, while readability is how the font is arranged or used.

Choosing a typeface is almost like selecting a type of thread to weave into material. The tiny detail will impact the quality and feel of the finished product. When deciding between typefaces, consideration should be given to the x-height. Fonts set in the same size, same leading and column width will produce varying degrees of color.

“A TYPEFACE’S TYPOGRAPHIC COLOR IS DETERMINED BY: STROKE WIDTH, X-HEIGHT, CHARACTER WIDTH AND SERIF STYLES.”

RULES OF THE ROAD: A DESIGNER’S MAP TO TYPOGRAPHY

Xxhg

X xhg

Interstate Tobias Frere-Jones

Futura Paul Renner

Sunt pratur mo mi, ullaborrum se voluptas cum fugia si tetur, con es dolupta tionet, seces iumet, soluptat. Porecero eseresedi optur, idit eum que volupta turese corpores vel int quo officias simus ad quam, untur sit ut vent, sin nost, quatis aliqui dolorest ius aut quam eos. utatem delesecto quatem doluptatem aceperovid et lat rem. Is arum faccusaectio tempostios eturio con eum aceroreptur? Ceaque vellita et, ut maiore, im ex estius, ut a doluptaquae. Ugiam, nonsent restorum inis pratusam cuptatetur magnit asiminctas henis volorem enitius, sint haria nossusa nos re volupta turese corpores vel int quo officias simus ad quam, untur sit ut vent, sin nost, quatis aliqui dolorest ius aut quam eos utatem delesecto. In et eturit, od explam, soluptia ium etur, si dolori doluptur? Quis minciis sinum fuga. Usciandis quid ese re, inverup tatiur, aut occaborpore, ea inihitiam imi, sant acestius consedio. Id quatusdam quis.

x-height: small, large, or average character width: wide, narrow, or average color: light, dark, or medium

CHAPTER 08

X xhg

Xxhg

Helvetica Max Miedinger

Gill Sans Eric Gill

x-height: small, large or average character width: wide, narrow, or average color: light, dark, or medium

x-height: small, large, or average character width: wide, narrow, or average color: light, dark, or medium

RULES OF THE ROAD: A DESIGNER’S MAP TO TYPOGRAPHY

X x hg

Xxhg

Arial Robin Nicholas

Century Gothic Pro Sol Hess

x-height: small, large, or average character width: wide, narrow, or average color: light, dark, or medium

CHAPTER 08

Xxhg

X xhg

Brevia Hannes von Döhren

Zeitung Pro Akiem Helmling, Sami Kortemäki, & Bas Jacobs

x-height: small, large, or average character width: wide, narrow, or average color: light, dark, or medium

RULES OF THE ROAD: A DESIGNER’S MAP TO TYPOGRAPHY

X xh g

Xxh g

Optima Hermann Zapf

Myriad Pro Robert Slimbach

x-height: small, large, or average character width: wide, narrow, or average color: light, dark, or medium

CHAPTER 08

X xh g

Xxhg

Didot Firmin Didot

Bodoni 72 Giambattista Bodoni

x-height: small, large, or average character width: wide, narrow, or average color: light, dark, or medium

RULES OF THE ROAD: A DESIGNER’S MAP TO TYPOGRAPHY

X x hg Baskerville John Baskerville Sunt pratur mo mi, ullaborrum se voluptas cum fugia si tetur, con es dolupta tionet, seces iumet, soluptat. Porecero eseresedi optur, idit eum que volupta turese corpores vel int quo officias simus ad quam, untur sit ut vent, sin nost, quatis aliqui dolorest ius aut quam eos. utatem delesecto quatem doluptatem aceperovid et lat rem. Is arum faccusaectio tempostios eturio con eum aceroreptur? Ceaque vellita et, ut maiore, im ex estius, ut a doluptaquae. Ugiam, nonsent restorum inis pratusam cuptatetur magnit asiminctas henis volorem enitius, sint haria nossusa nos re volupta turese corpores vel int quo officias simus ad quam, untur sit ut vent, sin nost, quatis aliqui dolorest ius aut quam eos utatem delesecto. In et eturit, od explam, soluptia ium etur, si dolori doluptur? Quis minciis sinum fuga. Usciandis quid ese re, inverup tatiur, aut occaborpore, ea inihitiam imi, sant acestius consedio. Id quatusdam quis.

x-height: small, large, or average character width: wide, narrow, or average color: light, dark, or medium

CHAPTER 08

Xxhg Palatino Hermann Zapf

x-height: small, large, or average character width: wide, narrow, or average color: light, dark, or medium

X xh g

Xx hg

Bely Roxane Gataud

Minion Pro Robert Slimbach

x-height: small, large, or average character width: wide, narrow, or average color: light, dark, or medium

RULES OF THE ROAD: A DESIGNER’S MAP TO TYPOGRAPHY

X xhg

X x hg

Times New Roman Stanley Morison

Tenez Rodrigo Saiani

x-height: small, large, or average character width: wide, narrow, or average color: light, dark, or medium

CHAPTER 08

X xhg

Xx hg

Plantin MT Pro Robert Granjon

Garamond

x-height: small, large, or average character width: wide, narrow, or average color: light, dark, or medium

Claude Garamond

RULES OF THE ROAD: A DESIGNER’S MAP TO TYPOGRAPHY

X xhg

Xxh g

Mrs Eaves Zuzana Licko

Gimlet David Jonathan Ross

x-height: small, large, or average character width: wide, narrow, or average color: light, dark, or medium

CHAPTER 08

CHAPTER THREE: LINES, & PARAGRAPHS Word spacing is something designers need to always keep in mind while designing layouts. Over-tight word spacing causes words to appear to run into each other, making it more difficult for the reader to distinguish one word from the next.

RULES OF THE ROAD: A DESIGNER’S MAP TO TYPOGRAPHY

CHAPTER ##

TYPOGRAPHY DEALS ESSENTIALLY WITH THE ARRANGEMENT OF words, lines of word and groups of lines to form paragraphs. Researchers believe that we don’t read words letter by letter, but that we tend to identify words by their outline. This is particularly true of type set in upper and lowercase. A lowercase exit sign on a highway is easier to read more quickly than if exit is in all uppercase. The differentiation of heights of the x-height, ascenders and defenders helps produce distinctive and recognizable word shapes. It is generally considered that words, lines, paragraphs set in uppercase (all caps) is less readable. Setting large amounts of text in all caps should be avoided. Paragraph text can be set justified, or ragged left (also known as flush right), ragged right or centered. As with all layouts, alignment depends on the purpose of the piece, the audience and its expectations, the fonts, the margins and white space, and other elements on the page. The most appropriate choice is the alignment that works for that particular design. No matter what alignment you use, remember to pay close attention to hyphenation and word/ character spacing as well to ensure that your text is as readable as possible. In typography, “rag” refers to the irregular or uneven vertical margin of a block of type. Usually it’s the right margin that’s ragged (as in the flush left/rag right setting), but either or both margins can be ragged.

The text block set Rag Right (unjustified text) as uneven line endings on the right side of the paragraph text and is set with normal letter and word spacing. Because of the even word spacing the text ragged text will have an even texture – no large spaces between words. The lines will naturally vary in length. A ragged text block can integrate with the layout and add visual interest onto the page. The difficulty is making the ragged edge have a pleasing silhouette. When the first line in the text is longer than the second, it becomes separate from the layout and creates a box-like shape. This destroys one of the advantages of unjustified text. The ragged edge needs to have a life, but a narrow column can be less active. Another advantage to ragged text is less hyphenation is needed. Therefore, names, dates or words which are normally read together can stay together. A good rag goes in and out from line to line in small increments. A poor rag creates distracting shapes. Don’t rely on the line breaks generated by your software application; get in the habit of spotting and correcting poor rags by making manual line breaks or by editing your copy. Slight adjustments in point size or column width might also work as well.

RULES OF THE ROAD: A DESIGNER’S MAP TO TYPOGRAPHY

Left Aligned

Right Aligned

Justified

Centered

CHAPTER 09

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Conecepe ped mos esediciis sus, tem seque nobit voluptio moluptaqui aces dit eatum nobitam iduciam, nem autem quiatur essint ut untia illenimus, officti orerore pererfe rspe untia

Word spacing is an important aspect of creating inviting, easy-to-read typography. This seemingly small detail plays a key role in establishing the color, texture and readability of a typographic communication. The word space is suitable for text in most typefaces, but it is work looking at especially in display type. In larger type the word space can be less. Over-tight word spacing causes words to appear to run into each other, making it more difficult for the reader to distinguish one word from the next. Conversely, word spacing that is too open – the more common occurrence – creates oversized blocks of white space between words, forcing the reader to read individual words rather than phrases or blocks of copy. This dramatically slows down the reading process, reducing reader comprehension and increasing the risk of distraction. How much word spacing is the right amount? Assigning appropriate space between words is more of an optical determination than an exact science, but certain factors have a definite influence. Word spacing will be affected by the proportions of a typestyle, letter fit, and point size of the setting. One rule of thumb is that the word space should be around the character space of the loser case “i”. Although the word spacing of any given font is predetermined, it can be adjusted in most design and page layout software via the justification settings. Changing the “desired word spacing” setting is the best method for text. For headlines, the kerning feature is the better tool – and yes, you can kern a character to a space, and vice versa.

Proper word spacing is not noticed by the reader, but is a major factor in creating text that appears even, inviting and easy to read; the copy should just flow. Hanging (or hung) punctuation refers to the practice of extending certain punctuation marks into the margin of a flush edge of text, to give the appearance of a more uniform vertical alignment. Punctuation marks that are typically hung include periods, commas, hyphens, dashes, quotation marks and asterisks. These, and any other mark that does not have a continuous vertical mass, can cause a visual “hole” or indentation in the flush edge. Hung punctuation should also be applied to headings, subheads, pull quotes and can be used for body text. Tremendous advances in the typographic capabilities of design software offer an effect similar to hung punctuation, by visually aligning the margins of flush text. Enabling and applying the Optical Margin Alignment feature will not only hang the appropriate punctuation outside the text frame, but also adjust other characters that can disturb alignment, including A, T, V, W, Y, and in some instances the numeral 1. This feature is adjustable in most design software, allowing fine control of the amount of overhang – from punctuation being completely extended into the margin, like traditional hung punctuation, down to any lesser degree of overhang. Optical alignment in text is a mixed blessing. It solves some visual problems but can cause others. It cures the visual indent caused by quotation marks but also gives them too much prominence. In typography, rivers, or rivers of white, are visually unattractive gaps appearing to run down a paragraph of text. They can occur with any spacing, though they are most noticeable with wide word spaces caused by either full text justification or monospaced fonts.

RULES OF THE ROAD: A DESIGNER’S MAP TO TYPOGRAPHY

Hanging Punctuation

“Typography is two-dimensional architecture, based on experience and imagination and guided by rules and readability” – Herman Zapf

Space sizing

Wordispaceishoudibeiaboutithatiofiailowercaseii Word space should be about that of a lowercase i

CHAPTER 09

CHAPTER TEN:

LINE LENGTH & COLUMN WIDTH 70

Line length and column width is all about Points and Measure. These are two very important typographic terms & having a full understanding of them can fully make or break a design. An ideal line length is determined by how many characters or words it will take to fit in line with the measures. This can easily be manipulated by adjusting the point sizes of the text. Having the right amount of words on each line is the key to having readable text.

RULES OF THE ROAD: A DESIGNER’S MAP TO TYPOGRAPHY

CHAPTER ##

A DESIGNER’S

ShortCut Tips & Tricks for Characters-Per-Line Minimum: 27 characters-per-line Optimum: 40 — 66 characters-per-line for 1 column Optimum: 40 — 50 characters-per-line for 2+ columns Maximum: 75 characters-per-line

RULES OF THE ROAD: A DESIGNER’S MAP TO TYPOGRAPHY

LINE LENGTH AND COLUMN WIDTH ARE TWO TYPOGRAPHIC TERMS that are closely related. Line length is normally expressed by the number of characters or words per line. Column width is measured in units – be it inches, points, pixels, etc. Column width affects readability because of the way our eyes read. Many people don’t realize that our eyes do not read character by character or even word by word. Rather, our eyes scan a line, pausing momentarily to record groups of three or four words. Studies have found that a reader can make three or four such pauses on a line before it becomes tiring. To determine line length for optimum readability, a good guideline is between 7 and 12 words for unjustified text. Fewer words may cause the sentence structure to break up, and may also result in too many hyphenations. Both of these reduce readability. Conversely, a line with more than 12 words can become tedious to read. Additionally, a reader can easily get lost when going from the end of one long line to the beginning of the next, and may inadvertently reread the same line, or miss a line or two. With justified text, the number of words per line should be between 12 and 15 words per line, to avoid excessive hyphenations, uneven word spacing, and rivers of white space in the text. Some resources will refer to line length in characters not words. A character is a letter, symbol, figure, punctuation, and space. Anything from 45 to 75 characters per line is regarded as satisfactory length for a line. 65 characters is regarded as ideal for one column of text. For multiple columns 40—50 characters per line is an ideal average.

CHAPTER 10

The longer the line, the more leading will be needed to assist the reader to get from the end of one line to the beginning of another. Shorter lines can have less leading. Several factors to consider when determining the width of a column of text are: Typeface: The width of the individual glyphs and the overall typeface design affect the word count per line. Point size: The size of the type affects how many words fit in a line. Average word length in the copy: You can fit a greater number of shorter words than longer ones in a given column width. Typefaces vary in their alphabet length. The alphabet length is determined by the width of the lowercase a through z, historically measured in points. This measurement varies depending upon the type style and point size being used. Therefore, varying the font and/or point size will affect the optimum column width. The final factor to take into account when deciding upon the appropriate line length is the nature of the actual text. For instance, some content — such as medical text — might involve longer words, lending itself to a wider column width to avoid excessive hyphenations. On the other hand, text used for children and young readers might involve many short words, allowing for a narrower column.

Column sizing, Left Alligned

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Column sizing, Justified

RULES OF THE ROAD: A DESIGNER’S MAP TO TYPOGRAPHY

2 Column, 30 characters-per-line

2 Column, 50 characters-per-line

quiati cullut occum.

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CHAPTER 10

nim Conecepe ped mos esediciis sus, tem seque nobit voluptio moluptaqui aces dit eatum nobitam iduciam, nem autem quiatur essint ut untia illenimus, officti orerore pererfe rspe untia Lesto to mi, ap incimus est este liatium quatem etur? ugit ut iusam essitiatur idigname pres moloreriatem issin cone oditatem ipsae poribus qui tecusciiste conse sandit, expero voles ut inimi, ut eatemquam, iuntiur rae quaerum quatibus quos simpor sitium volut ma cusam vellup tatem quunt qui beaquas iuntisi adi cum ium, volo voluptatis dolupta tatquiatur accusamus dolorepedi officte in est, cus, optasit dolupid uciust, ut autendae diciae ente pro eossequos idunt harumqui blautat Itaeruptaque et ex ea int labor sectem aceperi simoluptis incimus est este liatium quatem

12 leading

16 leading

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RULES OF THE ROAD: A DESIGNER’S MAP TO TYPOGRAPHY

Orphan

Widow

sor sinto.

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tem faccusdam sitet eiusda dus endel in porrorr uptatin velleniet aciliqu atest, simagnihit vellis peremqu volecus, que quaspel inum reiunt qui int venihic temolenis eat.

CHAPTER 10

tem faccusdam sitet eiusda dus endel in porrorr uptatin velleniet aciliqu atest, simagnihit vellis peremqu volecus, que quaspel inum reiunt qui int venihic temolenis eat.

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RULES OF THE ROAD: A DESIGNER’S MAP TO TYPOGRAPHY

Manual kerning of headlines and titles is a very important step in designing. The point of kerning is to keep the spacing visually consistent. The letters should appear to have the same amount of space between them.

CHAPTER ELEVEN:

KERNING

CHAPTER ##

KERNING IS THE ADJUSTMENT OF SPECIFIC PAIRS OF LETTERS TO improve spacing and fit. It’s distinct from tracking, which affects all the characters. Kerning is a mandatory skill for designers and is totally dependent on your eye, not the machine, not by measuring distance. Type needs the human eye for fine tuning. The tracking set the default spacing between letters, each letter existing within its free area and in general should not need to be changed. However, if there are indications that that font is poorly kerned in most cases the letter spacing is too tight and tracking can be added to a paragraph style or in InDesign you can chick on ‘optical’ kerning. This will only help body text, it will not correct headlines that are larger text. Kerning should be one of the last steps in fine-tuning your designs. Most fonts come with hundreds and sometimes thousands of kerning pairs inserted by the font designer. The need to kern letters may be more apparent in larger sizes of text or uses of text such as in titles, headlines,

subheads, large pull quotes, logotypes… The trained eye has to be the judge. Most common kerning pairs are Aw, Av, Ay, Ta, To, Va, Vo, Wa, Wo, Ya, Yo ect. The point of kerning is to keep the spacing visually consistent. The letters should appear to have the same amount of space between them. It doesn’t matter how much, it just needs to be consistent. Most typefaces have reasonably good kerning however a critical look is needed. It could be a typeface you have selected that doesn’t have any kerning pairs. Looking at the word upside down, blurring the letters or squinting can be useful in seeing where letters need to be kerned. Always look at least 3 letters at a time.

RULES OF THE ROAD: A DESIGNER’S MAP TO TYPOGRAPHY

A DESIGNER’S

ShortCut Most Common Kerning Pairs

HL: characters with verticals next to each other need the most amount of space. HO: a vertical next to a curve needs less space. OC: a curve next to a curve needs very little space. OT: a curve can actually overlap into the space, under or above the bar or stem. AT: the closest space (kerning) is done when both letters have a lot of space around them.

CHAPTER ##

Optical Kerning

Metric Kerning

Manual Kerning

Young Today Young Today Young Today

RULES OF THE ROAD: A DESIGNER’S MAP TO TYPOGRAPHY

Optical Kerning

Metric Kerning

Manual Kerning

CHAPTER 11

1814 1967 1814 1967 1814 1967

RULES OF THE ROAD: A DESIGNER’S MAP TO TYPOGRAPHY

C H A P T E R T W E LV E : HYPHENATION RULES Hyphenation controls the number of hyphens that can appear in text. Hyphens in justified text allow some of the spacing issues to be resolved. It is important to be sure you are not relying on the software to set hypenation.

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A DESIGNER’S

ShortCut Hyphenation Rules

— AVOID a sequence of hyphens in a row. — AVOID hyphenating or line brakes of names and proper nouns. — AVOID beginning consecutive lines with the same word. — AVOID ending consecutive lines with the same word. — AVOID ending lines with the words like: the, of, at, a, by... — LEAVE a least 3 characters on the line and 3 on the following line. — NEVER hyphenate a words in a headline and avoid hyphenation in a callout.

RULES OF THE ROAD: A DESIGNER’S MAP TO TYPOGRAPHY

OPINIONS ON HYPHENATION VARY. SOME DESIGNERS ARE uncompromising, saying for example. ‘Never hyphenate ragged right text or proper nouns’. It could be that you take the approach of avoiding hyphenation but it is better to hyphenate than have a bad rag or poor justification. Don’t rely on the software to judge where hyphens should be placed. Generally, it is better to set hyphenation specifications to a minimum of three characters at the beginning and end of a hyphenated word. That avoids having word breaks such as elegant-ly or mi-gration. Better would be ele-gantly or migration. The exception could be breaking a word at the prefix such as un-likelihood or de-contaminate.

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Hyphens in long compound words makes sense between the compounds. The hyphenation of proper nouns, such as the names London or Lawrence, is undesirable even though they have clear syllables. If you are dealing with a name such as Michelangelo or Baskerville, it will be better to break the name than to have an ugly rag or poor justification.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN: JUSTIFICATION SETTINGS

The way text is oriented on a spread is a very key part to creating good & well rounded design. One of the types of alignment is justification. This is when both sides of text rest flush to the edges of the text box. However, when done poorly, justified text can become a big roadblock for designers.

RULES OF THE ROAD: A DESIGNER’S MAP TO TYPOGRAPHY

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JUSTIFIED TEXT IS SPACED SO THE LEFT AND RIGHT sides of the text block both have a clean edge. The usual alternative to justified text is left-aligned text, which has a straight left edge and an uneven right edge. Compared to left-aligned text, justification gives text a cleaner, more formal look. Justify text only if the line is long enough to prevent awkward and inconsistent word spacing. The only time you can safely justify text is if your type is small enough and your line is long enough, as in books where the text goes all the way across the page. Justification works by adding white space between the words in each line so all the lines

Minimum Desired 80—90% 85—100% 0% 0% Letter spacing *Never change the Glyph Scaling. Word spacing

are the same length. This alters the ideal spacing of the font, but in paragraphs of reasonable width it’s usually not distracting. Layout programs allow the user to set the limit values for spacing. For most fonts setting the “Desired” to less that 100% is a good idea. For the letter spacing the Maximum can be 1% or 2%, never more.

Maximum 90—110% 1—2%

RULES OF THE ROAD: A DESIGNER’S MAP TO TYPOGRAPHY

A DESIGNER’S

ShortCut Tips & Tricks for Justification Settings *Don’t make min less that 80% *Don’t make desired more than 85% to 100% *Try any range of max from 90% to 110%

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Word spacing Letter spacing

Minimum 85% 0%

Desired 110% 0%

Maximum 250% 0%

Word spacing Letter spacing

Minimum 85% 0%

Desired 90% 0%

Maximum 95% 2%

Word spacing Letter spacing

Minimum 82% 0%

Desired 85% 0%

Maximum 90% 2%

RULES OF THE ROAD: A DESIGNER’S MAP TO TYPOGRAPHY

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Word spacing Letter spacing

Minimum 85% 0%

Desired 110% 0%

Maximum 250% 0%

Minimum 85% 0%

Desired 90% 0%

Maximum 95% 2%

Minimum 82% 0%

Desired 85% 0%

Maximum 90% 2%

RULES OF THE ROAD: A DESIGNER’S MAP TO TYPOGRAPHY

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Designed by Kaylee Cart. Class project for Typographic Systems at the University of Kansas, Spring 2021. The text was compiled from the following sources: Elements of Typographic Style by Robert Bringhurst, Getting it Right with Type: the Do's and Don'ts of Typography by Victoria Square, Mac is Not A Typewriter by Robin Williams, Practical Typography by Matthew Butterick. This book is not to be sold to the public and to only be used by the designer for their reference and student design portfolio.

RULES OF THE ROAD: A DESIGNER’S MAP TO TYPOGRAPHY