Practical typography

One of my favorite books especially with well-written summaries for each topic.

• typography is relevant for everyone who writes

• what typography is:

  • involved whenever the text is displayed by the billboard, printed in a paper, or drafted in the wall

  • has a function just like photography or web design where practitioners will use whatever techniques to raise the level of their work

  • main function is to hold reader attention

  • a tool to improve your writing

• what typography is not:

  • usage of fonts (or entirely composed of fonts)

  • a substitute for your writing

• what good typography is:

  • reinforces your message

  • goal-oriented and utilitarian, not based on taste; an aesthetically pleasing text that doesn't enforce your message is considered a failure; otherwise, an unappealing look that does reinforce your text is considered a success

• spacing before and after are more subtle and effective

• prefer bold over italics since it is easier to see

• while justified alignment looks nice, often they don't look well when applied automatically with software; in such case, prefer left-align instead

• fonts usage:

  • prefer to use two sets of fonts for the body and the headings

  • it doesn't mean to use two different font families, though; you can use one font family by setting the headings to use bold

  • use point size larger than 12pt, another old habit from newspapers; oftentimes it is not enough to see it in our display and it forces the user to go closer to the display (not exactly what you want)

• paragraphs:

  • no double-spacing per sentence, it is an old and unnecessary habit picked up for today

  • one way to mark a paragraph is first-line indents

  • another is newlines at the end of the paragraph

  • choose only one way to mark a paragraph otherwise it is overkill

  • avoid widows and orphans; most software lets you do this automatically

  • line spacing shouldn't be single spaced as it will make dense lines and hard to read; otherwise, it also shouldn't be doubly spaced since it will make loose lines; the ideal spacing is between 120% to 150% (of course, depending on the font)

• headings:

  • should structure your arguments, not your document

  • prefer in title cases because your headings are not titles

  • limit to 2/3 levels of heading, otherwise, it will make navigation confusing (unless you're writing a technical specification)