Tips on Type:
how to use it, what terms mean
by Ken Fermoyle
Most people don't pay much attention to typefaces, but type has been the basis for
all printed communication since Gutenberg invented movable type. As computer users,
we use type in everything we do: spreadsheets, data bases, e-mail messages, and of
course, word processing and desktop publishing in print or online. We should know
more about it and than most of us do.
For example, the terms "typeface" and "font" are often used interchangeably
in today's world of scalable, computer-generated type, but they differ significantly.
A typeface is a family of letters, numbers and symbols that share the same design
characteristics and parameters, regardless of size, weight or style or whether implemented
in wood, metal or digital form. Examples are Times Roman, Helvetica, etc. The advent
of digital type, especially scalable fonts, has blurred the distinction between typeface
and font. To understand the difference, remember that a typeface is designed first,
then a font is created from that design.
A font traditionally is a collection of alphanumerics and symbols of the same typeface
in one particular size, weight and style. For example, 9-point Helvetica regular
is one font, 10 point bold is another font, and 9-point Helvetica italic is still
another. Digitized scalable fonts we use with our computers can be scaled to any
size.
"Typography" is the term used to cover the art and technique of using type
to compose printed material, or the arrangement and appearance of printed matter.
Some typography terms carried over from traditional printing are still used today
but may not be understood by many computer users.
Kerning, for example, is the adjusting the amount of space between certain combinations
of letters in proportionally-spaced typefaces to eliminate awkward letterspacing.
Each letter in a typeface is designed with a set space to its right, but certain
combinations (Ta, Wo, etc.) look awkward when you see them with standard spacing.
Kerned pairs are combinations of letters that have the spaces between them adjusted
to make them easier to read and more pleasing to the eye. The space is usually reduced
(in the Ta and Wo examples above, the a would snuggled closer under the top crossbar
of the T and the o would be moved closer to the base of the W), but in some cases
may be increased. Type experts often use the number of kerned pairs available in
a given font as one measure of its quality.
Leading is simply the spacing between lines, so called because in the days of handset
type thin strips of lead alloy were inserted to provide such space. Letter spacing
and word spacing, as the names imply, are the distances between letters or words.
All three types of spacing can be controlled in many computer applications, often
very precisely.
Typefaces are divided in several way. First, there are monospaced and proportionally-spaced
faces. Courier is the best example of the former; each of its characters occupy the
same width whether it is a fat "m" or a skinny "i." Times Roman
is a typical proportionally-spaced face; as the name suggests, width occupied by
each character is proportional to its actual size.
Typewriter type was monospaced (with a very few exceptions) and generally came in
two sizes. One was Pica, called that because its characters were 10 to an inch, or
one pica wide. Elite type was smaller, 12 characters to the inch.
Fully justified columns, flush at both right and left, were almost impossible to
achieve on a typewriter because it was difficult to get the subtle, precise letter-
and wordspacing that made justification possible with handset type or that produced,
a line at a time, on linotype machines (which were pretty much state of the art when
I got my first newspaper job).
Typefaces are also divided into two categories in another way. They are either have
finishing strokes, called serifs, like Times Roman, or plain like Arial and Helvetica.
Not surprisingly the former are called "serif" faces, and the latter "sans-serif
" faces. Serifs are not just embellishments in type. They play major roles
in the readability, appearance and style of a face.
Another type division is between "uppercase" and "lowercase"
letters, more carryover terms from earlier days when type was set by hand. Metal
letters were arranged in cases on a sloping work bank, sort of an open-faced cabinet
lying almost on its back. The more frequently used small letters occupied the lower,
handier cases. Less frequently used capital and small capital letters, figures and
punctuation marks were in the higher, or upper, cases
Type involves a lot of artistry, not just in the design of typefaces, but in the
way they are used. A skilled art director or layout artist can achieve all sorts
of effects, evoke differing moods, just through careful selection and placement of
type.
Conversely, ill-advised use of type can literally destroy the effectiveness of printed
matter. In the early days of laser printers and desktop publishing (circa 1986-89)
we saw a great deal of this.
What we called the "ransom note school of publishing" developed. Novices
suddenly given 19 typefaces to play with used 12 of them-on the first page! The result
was so busy and distracting it was hard to focus on any one item on a page. We're
seeing some of this on the Web, as new site creation tools make it easy to build
Web pages.
(An added factor here is overuse of animation, banners and other elements that often
contribute little, distract much, in terms of getting across a message. My biggest
gripe is use of type in various colors on totally inappropriate background colors,
dark blue on black, for example, that makes for difficult reading.)
Artists and designers recommend using no more than two typefaces in any document:
a serif face for body text, and perhaps a sans-serif face for headlines, subheads
and captions. "This won't allow me enough variety," you complain? Not true!
You can achieve more than enough variety by using regular, bold, italic and small
capital styles in different weights (light, medium, heavy) and sizes.
Don't try to cram too much on a page. Type is much more readable with adequate leading
(e.g. 10 point type with 2 points of leading, or 10 on 12 as we used to instruct
typesetters, meaning "set 10-point type on a 12-point slug"). Decent-sized
margins and gutters between columns also improve readability.
Use "lift" or "pull" paragraphs and subheads to break up large
blocks of type. A lift paragraph is one that summarizes or makes a significant point
about the subject and is pulled from the body text. It is set into the body text
in a distinctive type style (bold, italic or both, often in a larger size than body
type) and may be set apart by rules above and below.
I hope these few comments and tips will help you understand and use type better in
the future.
Ken Fermoyle
Ken Fermoyle (kfermoyle@earthlink.net) has written some 2,500
articles for publications ranging from Playboy and Popular Science to MacWeek, Microtimes
& PC Laptop. He was cohost/producer of radio talk show on computers and a partner
in a DTP service bureau during the `80s. Fermoyle Publications currently offers editorial,
consulting & graphics design services. Copyright 1997, Ken Fermoyle, Fermoyle
Publications.
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