Typographic Workbook
Typographic Systems
4 weeks
25% of final grade
Creativity and Discipline
FILES & LINKS
Google Drive
Fonts by Classification
Lulu PublishingREFERENCE (use it)
Mac is Not a Typewriter (pdf)
Practical Typography by Matthew Butterick
Fontology by Fonts.com
Elements Typo. Style: Robert Bringhurst
Getting it Right w/Type: Victoria Squire
InDesign help (+google)
Read the InDesign How to Document.pdf
Paragraph Styles
Charater Styles
CALENDAR
Oct 18 :: Oct 23 :: Oct 25 :: Oct 30
Nov 1 :: Nov 6 :: Nov 8 :: Nov 13 :: Nov 15
TITLE PAGE
name of your book, your name University of Kansas, 2023
(Colophon: Add to the beginning or end of the book.)
Designed by Your Name. Class project for Typographic Systems at the University of Kansas, 2023. 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. 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.
All the content below must be in your workbook. However you can organize it in any way you want. Each section can be a chapter or you can organize the content into groups and those become chapters.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TYPOGRAPHIC RULES
01 rules check sheet
02 typographic rules
MICRO-TYPOGRAPHY
03 special characters
04 column width and hyphenation
05 hyphens and dashes
06 quotes and apostrophes
07 kerning
FORMATING TYPE
08 figures and tabular tables
09 justification, letterspacing, word spacing
10 paragraph breaks
REFERENCE
11 anatomy of type
12 typographic color
13 font classification
14 glossary of terms (optional)
The type workbook consists of a series of investigations you’ll be carrying out. The content ranges from typographic studies to type setting rules in typography. The Typographic Workbook project demands a significant amount of time and attention to detail. It is important that the workbook remains cohesive as a single document. As design professionals, your familiarity with the rules – or lack thereof – will be evident. Professionals can quickly gauge your grasp of typography by looking at your work. To secure and excel in the job you desire, it is crucial to master these rules and terms. While advanced classes deal with the broader aspects of typography, focusing on the big picture, this workbook delves into the finer details of typography. It's assumed at the end of this project that you're well-versed in this information and won't need a repeat coverage.
You will develop the look and feel of the workbook. The final product can be printed or a digital PDF.
The content provided is divided into chapters, each accompanied by reference material. You're free to reorganize or regroup the content across chapters, but ensure that you incorporate all the given information.
Class time will be dedicated to reviewing your solutions and addressing questions. You'll also need to manage the project timeline independently. I'll provide milestones to guide you; some chapters will be quick and straightforward, while others might demand more time and effort.
You can seek inspiration from past examples, but avoid duplicating how others solved the problem. Your work should have its distinct identity. Essentially, you're crafting a personal typographic guide, a resource you can refer back to. Approach this task thoughtfully, allocate the necessary time, and meticulously attend to every detail.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
_ solve communication problems within given parameters
_ macro- micro typography
_ present and assess work in a visually and verbally articulate manner
_ professionally document outcomes
_ demonstrate exemplary visual craft—hand and digital
_ advancing Adobe InDesign proficiency: grid, baseline grid, character style, paragraph styles
Website :: past examples
ATTENTION TO DETAILFrom Shaping Text by Jan Middendorp "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and whether book or magazine 'looks good' is, to a large extent, a matter of taste. But beyond person preferences, it is certainly possible to recognize quality; to get a feel of a piece of text is harmoniously set, to pick out typesetting flaws (and correct them), to notice whether a text looks bland because that is what the designer wanted or because they never looked beyond the default settings or fonts that begin with 'A'." It is all in the details. There are several factors on which the appeal and functionality and accessibility may depend;
Text formating: choice of type and body size in relation to other decisions: column width; various levels of text; headlines, subheads, introductions, pull quotes, footnotes, captions...
Paragraph formating: Line length in relationship to line spacing (leading) and body size; indents and outdents; alignments (left, right, centered, justified; word spacing, etc.
Microtypography: The attention to details -- the fine art of adjusting every detail to achieve typographic excellence on the smallest level.
Design professionals can easily discern whether you understand typography or not. A skilled designer can quickly gauge your proficiency just by looking at your typography work. Whether you're pursuing a career in traditional or digital design, it's crucial to grasp and excel in typographic rules, terminology, and application to secure and maintain the job you desire. While advanced classes tackle the broader aspects of typography, concentrating on the overarching concepts, this workbook delves into the finer details of typography. It's important to note that you should learn and retain this information, as it won't be revisited.
BASELINE GRID (also called the leading grid)
Many people call the baseline grid, the leading grid. It maybe easier to understand the baseline grid thinking about it as the leading grid. The key is the baseline grid is based on leading. The leading should be related (a multiple) of the baseline grid.
*You must use the baseline grid for your workbook. Change the baseline grid to what makes sense for your design. (hint a multiple of 3 or 4).
Paragraph and Character Styles
To keep your text consistant in the entire book you should use Paragraph Styles and Charater Styles. If you need to make changes to the font, size, leading, color, style you can change them all globally through Styles.
RULES, HIERARCHY AND PACING
This project revolves around mastering the rules and intricacies of typography. These principles will guide you in designing your book and seamlessly incorporating them into its content. Equally important is the concept of pacing, achieved by applying hierarchy through elements like size, contrast, placement, and organization, creating an inviting visual journey for the reader on each page.
Although the investigations themselves may appear uncomplicated, it's your implementation of these insights that will provide you with the ability to skillfully organize complex information in an elegant and easily understandable way. You'll utilize these abilities to emphasize essential content and manage a range of design elements, including titles, chapter pages, headers, captions, and page numbers.
The choices you make in terms of typeface, font size, weight, and color will determine whether the book emerges as a beautiful, elegant, and dynamic creation, or falls short of that mark. It's important to acknowledge that this project isn't a simple endeavor; it carries a level of complexity that demands your attention and skill.
SOFTWARE
Adobe InDesign (you must use Adobe InDesign, if you need help, just let me know)
. Using a Grid, Baseline Grid and Character Styles are all required, failure to use them will result in a failing grade)
PROJECT DELIVERABLES
Wookbook. Printed B/W Jayhawk Ink
Wookbook. pdf on google drive
Behance post (make a selection of spreads)
no process book
*after the proejct is graded and you get feedback you can send it off to Blurb but not before and not required
Printed Book
successfully design and typeset both a printed book about the principles of typography
tools: Adobe InDesign
size print: 8.5in x 11in (page size, USE they templates given in the google drive they are set up using the BLURB TEMPLATE)
page count: unlimited so do not overcrowd pages fonts: typefaces of your choice, determined by investigation
color: full color
grid: 5 column
output: final output will be digitally printed
*b/w version printed cheaply at Jayhawk is required for grading then you may send it off to blurb and get it printed as a magazine
Digital pdf
successfully design and typeset both a digital screen proportioned pdf
tools: Adobe InDesign
size print: 11 x 17 page (do not design as spreads)
page count: unlimited so do not overcrowd pages fonts: typefaces of your choice, determined by investigation
hyper links: must include hyper links to content. Any additional interactive element/content is encouraged.
color: full color
grid: 12 column
output: final output will be a interactive pdf.
CALENDAR
Below outlines what we are talking about and working on in class that day.
Monday, Oct 23
Discuss Font Specs
Discuss Typographic Color
Set Character Styles
Anatomy of Type
Wednesday, Oct 25
Pick visual direction and go
Crit Anatomy of Type
Package InDesign Files
01 rules check sheet
02 typographic rules
03 special characters
07 kerning
12 typographic color (started it, now add text and refine)
13 font classifications (optional)
Monday, Oct 30
crit and refine
04 column width and hyphenation
05 hyphens and dashes
06 quotes and apostrophes
13 font classifications (if you haven’t done it yet do it now)
Wednesday, Nov 1
crit and refine
08 figures and tabular tables
09 justification/letterspacing/word spacing
10 paragraph breaks
Monday, Nov 6
crit and refine
Cover
Title page
Table of Contents
Wednesday, Nov 8
refine and review
Monday Nov 13
refine and review and finish up.
Wednesday Nov 15 DUE
TITLE PAGE
name of your book, your name University of Kansas, 2023
(Colophon: Add to the beginning or end of the book.)
Designed by Your Name. Class project for Typographic Systems at the University of Kansas, 2023. 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. 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.
All the content below must be in your workbook. However you can organize it in any way you want. Each section can be a chapter or you can organize the content into groups and those become chapters.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TYPOGRAPHIC RULES
01 rules check sheet
02 glossary of typographic rules
MICRO-TYPOGRAPHY
03 special characters
04 column width and hyphenation
05 hyphens and dashes
06 quotes and apostrophes
07 kerning
FORMATING TYPE
08 figures and tabular tables
09 justification, letterspacing, word spacing
10 paragraph breaks
REFERENCE
11 anatomy of type
12 typographic color
13 font classifications
14 glossary of terms (optional)
01. Rules Check Sheet
-- ︎︎︎find and replace the -- with whatever you want to use as a bullet or indicator. You must use all the text but you may organize it in a different way.The following is a compendium rules and typographic details that should be checked before every project is completed.
-- Use only one space between sentences.
-- Use real quotation marks.
-- Use real apostrophes.
-- Make sure the apostrophes are where they belong.
-- Hang the punctuation off the aligned edge.
-- Use en or em dashes, use consistently.
-- Kern all headlines where necessary.
-- Never use the space-bar to align text
-- Always align text with tabs and use the tab key.
-- Leave no widows or orphans.
-- Avoid more than 3 hyphenations in a row.
-- Avoid too many hyphenations in any paragraph.
-- Avoid hyphenating names and proper nouns.
-- Leave a least 2 characters on the line and 3 following.
-- 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...
-- Never hyphenate a words in a headline.
-- Avoid hyphenation in a callout.
-- Never justify the text on a short line.
-- Keep the word spacing consistent.
-- Tighten up the leading in lines with all caps.
-- Use a one-em first-line indent on all indented paragraphs.
-- Adjust the spacing between paragraphs.
-- Use a decimal or right-aligned tab for the numbers in a table.
-- Never have one line in a paragraph in the column or following.
-- Never combine two serif fonts on one page.
-- Rarely combine two sans serif fonts on one page.
-- Rarely combine more than three typefaces on one page.
-- Use the special characters including super- and subscript.
-- If a correctly spelled word needs an accent mark, use it.
TITLE PAGE
name of your book, your name University of Kansas, 2023
(Colophon: Add to the beginning or end of the book.)
Designed by Your Name. Class project for Typographic Systems at the University of Kansas, 2023. 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. 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.
All the content below must be in your workbook. However you can organize it in any way you want. Each section can be a chapter or you can organize the content into groups and those become chapters.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TYPOGRAPHIC RULES
01 rules check sheet
02 glossary of typographic rules
MICRO-TYPOGRAPHY
03 special characters
04 column width and hyphenation
05 hyphens and dashes
06 quotes and apostrophes
07 kerning
FORMATING TYPE
08 figures and tabular tables
09 justification, letterspacing, word spacing
10 paragraph breaks
REFERENCE
11 anatomy of type
12 typographic color
13 font classifications
14 glossary of terms (optional)
02. Glossary of Typograhic Rules
︎︎︎notes to the designer. when designing this section develop an interesting way to show the list, do you show examples? how much text do you have on a page? are some more important than others -- could they be larger or in color or treated a different way? you can use as many or as few pages for this section.
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.
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 compute 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. Add letter spacing to capitalized text and small caps
Letterspacing is the amount of space between characters in a word. Some software programs caller letterspacing tracking. Use positive number values (to about 2 or 3) to open up letterspacing to capitalized text and small caps, except when periods are used between characters.
6. Use old style figures when appropriate
Old style figures, also known as non-lining figures do not line up on the baseline as regular or lining numerals do. They can be found in various fonts. If the body text has a significant amount of numbers, research a font family where they are included. If non-lining numerals are not available, use a slightly smaller point size for the lining numbers. Think of lining numbers as upper case numbers and non-lining numbers as lower case numbers.
7. Use caps properly
With options given to you by almost any type family (bold, point size, etc) you will seldom need to use all caps to draw attention to your text. Not all typefaces are legible when set in all caps; esp. true for script and decorative typefaces. Short headlines may be the once exception to this rule.
8. 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 then other marks. If you choose to superscript ®, reduce it to about 60% of the size.
9. Ellipsis Character
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. 10. 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.
10. Increase line spacing to improve readability in body text
Line spacing (aka 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. When setting headlines, solid leading (leading = point size, 12/12) or negative leading (leading =< point size, 12/10) may be appropriate.
11. 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. So, print out your text before finalizing your layout. Type studies will help you determine the proper size before you proceed with your layout.
12. 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.
13. Legibility of fonts
Sans serif typefaces work well for headlines and to set text that is aligned to vertical/horizontal lines. Certain sans serif typefaces which are not very geometrical work well for body copy (i.e. Frutiger, Meta, Scala Sans, etc.)
14. Decrease line length and increase margins
Line length is a measure of text on one line. Any measure between 45 and 75 characters is comfortable for single column widths. The ideal measure for body text length is 66 characters (counting both letters, punctuation, and spaces.) For multiple columns, a measure between 40 and 50 characters is ideal.
15. Avoid letterspacing lowercase body copy
Don’t letterspace body copy as it really hampers legibility. Use letterspacing when working with caps. small caps, numbers and display text where looser type spacing may increase legibility.
16. 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!
17. Ideal column width
For single-column pages, 4.25 inches is ideal. For two-column width, columns can be as narrow as 2 inches. Turning on the hyphenation feature can improve word spacing.
18. Justification of text
Justification can be appropriate in certain places. However, it can create certain problems such as rivers and word spacing. Adjusting size of margins, decreasing body copy size, turning on auto hyphenation and manually hyphenating the text are all examples of possible solutions.
19. 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. Right-aligned and centered are generally not used for body copy.
20. 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 then four letters as the last line of a paragraph. Avoid more then 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.
21. Avoid beginning three 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 consecutive lines beginning with the same word. When this happens simply adjust the text to avoid/fix the problem.
22. Always spell check!
Once you are finished with your design, spell check the text using both of the following: a. Use spell=check option that comes with the software you are using for the project. b. Print the document and read it. The monitor and design of the document will make text look perfect when it may not be. Even if text is given to you by a client, check it. Never ever assume that it is correct. Keep a dictionary close as well.
23. 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.
24. Kerning in headlines
Adjust the space between two particular letters to allow for more consistent negative space.
25. Indents
In continuous text, mark all paragraphs after the first with an indent of at least one “em” (3 spaces). Do NOT use three spaces but rather use the tabs or indents option in your software.
TITLE PAGE
name of your book, your name University of Kansas, 2023
(Colophon: Add to the beginning or end of the book.)
Designed by Your Name. Class project for Typographic Systems at the University of Kansas, 2023. 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. 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.
All the content below must be in your workbook. However you can organize it in any way you want. Each section can be a chapter or you can organize the content into groups and those become chapters.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TYPOGRAPHIC RULES
01 rules check sheet
02 glossary of typographic rules
MICRO-TYPOGRAPHY
03 special characters
04 column width and hyphenation
05 hyphens and dashes
06 quotes and apostrophes
07 kerning
FORMATING TYPE
08 figures and tabular tables
09 justification, letterspacing, word spacing
10 paragraph breaks
REFERENCE
11 anatomy of type
12 typographic color
13 font classifications
14 glossary of terms (optional)
03. Special Characters
︎︎︎notes *you will need to recreate this an x is in place of the "real" character︎︎︎use tabs to tab text over to align <- learn how to use tabs
︎︎︎www.letterfountain.com/classification.html
︎︎︎PC: www.ut.edu/academics/college-of-arts-and-letters/
The following is a list of the most often-used special characters and accent marks. On the following pages are the key combinations for just about every accent you might need.
Special Characters
x Option [ opening double quotex Option Shift [ closing double quote
x Option ] opening single quote
x Option Shift ] closing single quote; apostrophe
x Option Hyphen en dash
x Option Shift Hyphen em dash
x Option ; ellipsis
x Option 8 bullet (asterisk key)
x Option Shift 5 ligature of f and i
x Option Shift 6 ligature of f and l
x Option g copyright
x Option 2 trademark
x Option r registered
x Option Shift 8 degree symbol (e.g., 102°F)
x Option $ cent symbol
x Option Shift 2 Euro symbol
Diacritics, or Accent Marks
Diacritics are small marks that appear above or below glyphs, usually to alter pronunciation. They’re required in many languages, and we must ensure the typeface we’re using includes the diacritics we need for all the languages we need to typeset. Polish, Welsh, and Turkish, for instance, have diacritics absent from many common fonts.
To set an accent mark over a letter, press the Option key and the letter, then press the letter you want under it. Or search for the accented Glyph.
´ Option e (try resume, frappe, souffle)
` Option e (try papa,)
¨ Option u (try uber, naive,
˜ Option n (try nino pinata, jalapeno
Try facade (ç)
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 to superscript ®, reduce it to about 60% of the size.
Note:
A trademark is a form of intellectual property protection that covers words, phrases, symbols, or designs that distinguish a particular brand (or source of goods) in comparison to others. A trademark protects items such as Brand names, Logos, Business names, and Slogans. In short, a trademark can apply to anything that essentially brands a business or identifies a product or company. Here are some well-known examples: The Tabasco bottle with the hexagonal screw top is trademarked. “Footlong,” all one word, is trademarked by Subway sandwiches. McDonalds Golden Arch symbol is trademarked.
Copyright protects original work, whereas a trademark protects items that distinguish or identify a particular business from another. Copyright is generated automatically upon the creation of original work, whereas a trademark is established through common use of a mark in the course of business. Copyright expires after a set period of time, whereas a trademark doesn't expire provided the mark continues to be used.
Bullet
A bullet is a large dot or other symbol that is used to draw attention to a list of items. These items may have been extracted from the text, or they may be a separate list that is independent of the text. While many designers are content to use the default bullet style, size, and position that comes with a font, there are many other options that can help highlight information in a more stylish, distinctive, and impactful way.
The simplest option is to use the bullet that is included with the chosen font. Although some default bullets are just the right size in proportion to the text, others are not. A bullet that is too large might overpower the text (especially if the bullet and text are the same color). One that is too small might appear more like a pin dot or speck and be hardly noticeable, which totally defeats the purpose of a bulleted list. If either of these scenarios occurs, resize the bullet so that it creates just the right degree of contrast, balance, and emphasis. Don’t make the mistake of assuming that if a bullet comes with the font, it is the right size.
To exercise a bit more creativity, try substituting other symbols or dingbats for the typical round bullet. Simple shapes such as squares, diamonds, and triangles work well, as do more representational graphics including arrows, check marks, and pointers.
TITLE PAGE
name of your book, your name University of Kansas, 2023
Add to the beginning or end of the book.
Designed by Your Name. Class project for Typographic Systems at the University of Kansas, 2023. 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. 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.
All the content below must be in your workbook. However you can organize it in any way you want. Each section can be a chapter or you can organize the content into groups and those become chapters.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TYPOGRAPHIC RULES
01 rules check sheet
02 glossary of typographic rules
MICRO-TYPOGRAPHY
03 special characters
04 column width and hyphenation
05 hyphens and dashes
06 quotes and apostrophes
07 kerning
FORMATING TYPE
08 figures and tabular tables
09 justification, letterspacing, word spacing
10 paragraph breaks
REFERENCE
11 anatomy of type
12 typographic color
13 font classifications
14 glossary of terms (optional)
04. Column Width and Hyphenation
︎︎︎what can you call out, create visual to represent what is being expressed in words.Ensuring the ideal character count per line is paramount in enhancing the legibility and visual appeal of your written content. It’s not solely about the aesthetics of your design; it’s also about the ease with which your text can be read and comprehended.
The recommended line length for your main text body typically falls within the range of 45 to 75 characters per line (7 - 12 words), including spaces. Reading occurs in small increments, with readers digesting 5 to 10 characters at a time. Consequently, a line length of 55 to 60 characters is often considered optimal. This allows the reader to pause naturally 6 to 12 times on each line, facilitating a smoother reading experience. Lines that are narrower may force readers to shift their attention between lines more frequently, causing unnecessary interruptions in their reading flow. Moreover, narrow lines can pose challenges when dealing with justified columns.
On the other hand, excessively long lines can strain the reader’s eyes as they grapple with determining where a line starts and ends. Additionally, in longer passages, finding the correct line within large blocks of text becomes a cumbersome task.
Conversely, when lines are too short, readers are compelled to backtrack too frequently, disrupting their reading rhythm. Short lines can also induce stress, causing readers to skip ahead to the next line before completing the current one, potentially missing crucial content.
It is essential to avoid the presence of widows and orphans in your text layout.
Widows
Widows occur when a paragraph ends with fewer than seven characters (not words, but characters) on the last line, and they are especially problematic when only part of a word is left on the final line, with the rest appearing on the line above.
Orphans
Orphans, on the other hand, occur when the last line of a paragraph, regardless of its length, cannot fit at the bottom of a column and instead continues at the top of the next column. The practice is always to correct this situation.
Rivers
In the realm of typography, “rivers,” or visually unattractive gaps resembling streams of white space, can detract from the visual appeal of a text block. Rivers are most conspicuous when wide word spacing results from full-text justification or the use of monospaced fonts.
Hyphenation
Hyphenation plays a crucial role in ensuring a smooth and visually appealing text layout. It’s not advisable to rely solely on software for hyphenation decisions. When placing hyphens at line endings, it’s best to leave at least two characters behind and take at least three characters forward to avoid disrupting the flow of words.
For example, “ele-gantly” is acceptable, whereas “elegant-ly” should be avoided as it separates the word too abruptly.
Furthermore, be cautious about ending lines with the stub of a hyphenated word or any word shorter than four letters. Avoid having more than three consecutive hyphenated lines. When it comes to hyphenating or breaking proper names and titles, ensure the use of non-breaking spaces before and after these terms to prevent line breaks within them.
Consistently avoid starting three consecutive lines with the same word, as this can disrupt the text’s visual harmony. Lastly, refrain from ending lines with common words like: the, of, at, a, an, and, by which can hinder readability.
Lastly, it’s essential never to hyphenate words in headlines and to minimize hyphenation in callouts. Adhering to these hyphenation rules will help maintain the text’s visual coherence and legibility.
Hyphenation Rules
-- break lines based how the text is read
-- avoid widows
-- avoid hyphenating names and proper nouns
-- leave a least 2 characters on the line and 3 following
-- 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..
-- never hyphenate a words in a headline
-- avoid hyphenation in a callout