When you launch your favorite layout software, you’re trusting that it shipped with the proper settings for beautiful typography. Having worked with design software since the days of Adobe PageMaker — through tests and trial and error — I’ve developed a simple set of standards and guidelines for better typography. Your layout software just needs a few tweaks for better spacing, and a careful eye for common typographic oversights.
As designers, we want the spacing between the letters and the words on the page to be perfect — for even color on the printed page, consistent letter spacing and uniform word spacing.
Open a book; pick up a magazine; read a brochure… Readability is not accidental. The typeface was carefully spaced by the type designer. The number of hyphens and placement of other punctuation should be deliberate. The double spaces are removed from the client copy. How does one keep track of all that?
These standards are grouped into five categories. We build them into brand standards manuals, and our design staff follows them as a checklist. When we receive a proof for review, we can focus on aesthetics and clarity of communications, because the small typographic details have been taken care of.
Of course, some typefaces may have letter spacing and word spacing that are more open, so you may need to adjust these settings for even color and spacing to suit your preferences.
Brian Sooy is the Chief Brand Officer of Aespire, type designer (Altered Ego Fonts) and typography expert, consulting with publications, publishers, and organizations on typographic standards, type and letterform design, and readability. Check out this typeface designed for the Bible.
Experience these guidelines in action when you read the nonprofit culture and communication handbook
Raise Your Voice: A Cause Manifesto.
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