INTRODUCTION ............................. ..6

T H E L E T T E R
1 Using letter as form ............................... .. 8
2 Using counter spaces as form ............... ..1o
3 Letterform details ................................. .. 12
4 Emotional content implied by the text... 14
5 Historical connotation .......................... .. 16
6 Considering the medium ...................... ..18
7 Honoring dignity ................................. .. 20
8 The handmade solution ....................... .. 22
9 Being expressive .................................. .. 24
10 Staying neutral ..................................... .. 26
11 Considering background contrast ....... .. 28
12 Emphasis using weight ....................... .. 30
13 Emphasis using contrasting weights 32
14 Emphasis using size ............................ .. 34
15 Emphasis using contrasting sizes ........ .. 36
16 Proper smart quotes ............................ .. 38
17 The hyphen, the en dash, and the

em dash ................................................ .. 40
18 High contrast in reverse ...................... .. 42
19 Extreme scaling ................................... .. 44
20 Heavy flourishes .................................. .. 46
21 Thinking like a typesetter .................... .. 48
22 Using display versions ......................... .. 50
23 Using numbers ...................................... ..52
24 Dingbats and pictograms ..................... .. 54
25 Theory of Relativity I ........................... .. 56
A “bad” typeface? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Typographic abominations . . . . . . . . . . 60

Hierarchy using position . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Hierarchy using size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Hierarchy using weight . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Hierarchy using color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Hierarchy using contrast . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Hierarchy using orientation . . . . . _ . . . .72

Hierarchy using special effects . . . . . . . .74

To kern or not to kern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .76

Type as image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Three-dimensional type . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Repetition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

Deconstructed type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Vertical stacking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

See the shape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

Using cases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

The rule of three typefaces . . . . . . . . . . . 92

Mixing many typefaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Mixing type using contrast,

weight, or color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Mixing typefaces using historical
compatibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Familiarity breeds legibility . . . . . . . . . 100
Properly weighted small caps

and fractions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Using the right type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

Theory of Relativity II . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Invisible typography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

Highly evident typography . . . . . . . . . .110
Less is more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .112
More is more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Letter spacing and word spacing . . . . .116
Hyphenation and justification . . . . . . . .118

Tracking guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

The ‘‘color’’ of the text type . . . . . . . . . .122

Considering typographic mass . . . . . . .124

Pattern, gradation, and texture . . . . . . .126

Basic leading principles . . . . . . . . . . . . .128

Optimum line lengths . . . . . . . . . . . . . .130

Increasing leading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .132

Tightly stacked lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .134

Indicating paragraphs . . . . . _ . . . . . . . .136

Initial caps and drop caps . . . . . . . . . . .138

Opening paragraphs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140

Orphans and widows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .142

“Rivers” of space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .144

Eschew decorative type . . . . . . . . . . . . .146

Celebrate decorative type . . . . . . . . . . . .148

Text overlapping images . . . . . . . . . . . .150

Text overlapping text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .152

The text block effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .154

Theory of Relativity III . . . . . . . . . . . . . .156
Legibility, legibility, legibility . . . . . . . . 158

Legibility taking a back seat . . . . . . . . .160

Limiting typefaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .162

One type family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164

Six necessary typefaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166

A need for every typeface . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
Text typefaces Versus display
typefaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .170

Organized entry points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172

Systematizing hierarchy . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174

Using justified type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176

Using flush-left, rag-right type . . . . . . . 178
Using centered, asymmetrical,
and flush-right type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .180

The multicolumn text grid . . . . . . . . . . .182

The uneven text grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .184

Typographic “furniture” . . . . . . . . . . . . .186

Decks, callouts, and pull quotes . . . . . .188
The “birth and death” of the text . . . . .190
Chaos versus order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192

Commentary, marginalia, and

alternate languages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .194

Tables and charts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .196

Navigational devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .198

Margins and gutters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200

Framing the text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201

Floating in space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202

Theory of Relativity IV . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204