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Ten Top Tips for Tidier Type
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Harry Roberts
October 25, 2013
Design
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Ten Top Tips for Tidier Type
Ten Top Tips for Tidier Type at #TIDE, Scarborough. October 2013.
Harry Roberts
October 25, 2013
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Transcript
Ten Top Tips for Tidier Type #TIDE – Scarborough, 2013
Ten Top Tips for Tidier Type on t’Internet #TIDE –
Scarborough, 2013
Harry Roberts @csswizardry
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A brief history of writing. Really , really brief…
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What is good type?
It’s about allowing the eye to move uninterrupted.
It’s about being clear and without distractions.
It’s about stopping the eye from tiring.
The best typography goes unnoticed.
Choosing your face 1.
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Only use serifs if you use a large enough font
size.
The 100% Easy-2-Read Standard http://ia.net/blog/100e2r
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Do not Set serif faces small enough that they lose
clarity. Change the browser’s default size without good cause. Pick a face unsuitable for screen viewing.
Do Choose a face with wide counters and bowls. Keep
an eye on serifs. Set type at a comfortable size for prolonged reading.
Setting your measure A.K.A. line length 2.
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52–78 characters (2–3 alphabets).
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.wrapper { max-width: 40em; }
Do not Allow your measure to keep growing with the
screen.
Do Set a measure that doesn’t tire the eye. Stick
to the numbers where possible.
Setting your line height Not the same as leading. 3.
Needs to be wide enough to focus on one line
at a time.
140% (1.4) is generally pretty comfortable.
html { font-size: 100%; line-height: 1.4; }
/** * 1. Makes my maths a little easier. */
html { font-size: 100%; line-height: 1.5; /* [1] */ }
As the measure alters, so should the line height. Prevent
the eye making awkward ‘jumps’.
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Do not Pack lines too tightly. Allow lines to oat
apart.
Do Make sure your line-height suits your measure.
The three (major) types of dash Hyphen, en, and em.
4.
The hyphen i.
-
The hyphen Double-barreled names. Words breaking over two lines. Compound
modi ers (e.g. a light-green dress).
‘I’m looking for an old ass banger.’
The en dash ii.
–
The en dash denotes ranges. Slides 54–62 will teach us
all about the en dash.
Ranges e.g. pp. 117–158, ages 7–12
Relations e.g. New York–London, father–son
More*
HTML: – Mac: Alt+- Win: Alt+0150
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The em dash iii.
—
The em dash separates a clause—or separate train of thought—within
a sentence.
Set em dashes—like these ones—without spaces…
…or set them — like these ones — with hair spaces.
Never set them — like these ones — fully spaced.
Some people uses en dashes – like these – with
spaces…
But it all depends on the face.
HTML: — Mac: Alt+Shi +- Win: Alt+0151
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Do not Use the hyphen for everything.
Do Learn the di erences and uses for each type
of dash. Consider the face when choosing which to use.
Quotes Sixty-sixes and ninety-nines. 5.
Dumb quotes i.
''
""
That looks nothing like a 66 or a 99!
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Single quotes ii.
‘’
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HTML: ‘ / ’ Mac: Alt+] / Alt+Shi +] Win:
Alt+0145 / Alt+0146
Double quotes iii.
“”
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HTML: “ / ” Mac: Alt+[ / Alt+Shi +[ Win:
Alt+0147 / Alt+0148
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Do not Use dumb quotes!
Do Spend time setting quotes and apostrophes.
Quote convention “‘’” or ‘“”’? 6.
‘This is the typical “British quote” style.’
“This is the typical ‘American quote’ style.”
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A more attractive appearance is achieved by using single quotation
marks for the more frequently occurring quotations, and the double version for the less frequent occurrence of quotations within quotations. —Jost Hochuli
Do not Nest the same quote marks.
Do Pick a convention sympathetic to the face.
Primes 7.
I am 6'4"
Primes are not the same as straight quotes. They are
used to denote measurements.
I am 6′4″
I am 6′4″ I am 6'4" I am 6’4”
HTML: ′ / ″ Mac: Win: Alt+8242 / Alt+8243
Ellipses 8.
…
Ellipses are not three full stops. But it could be
worse.
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HTML: … Mac: Alt+; Win: Alt+0133
Hung punctuation 9.
Hung punctuation preserves the ow of text, making it quicker
and smoother for a user to read.
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ul, ol { list-style-position: outside; }
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blockquote { text-indent: -0.4em; }
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Do not Inset bullets. Ever.
Do Hang punctuation into the margin where you can. Otherwise
hang it relative to the body of text.
Double spacing Dante’s tenth circle… 10.
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Do not Double space your sentences.
Resources Learn more about typography. a.
The Elements of Typographic Style —Robert Bringhurst
Detail in Typography —Jost Hochuli
Twenty-Two Tips on Typography —Enric Jardi
The Penguin Guide to Punctuation —R L Trask
Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punctuation
Typography for Lawyers http://typographyforlawyers.com
The Elements of Typographic Style Applied to the Web http://webtypography.net
Ten Top Tips for Tidier Type Harry Roberts – @csswizardry