T Y P E L A Y O U T

Old Design

Know the rules

before you break the rules.

W I S D O M________________________________________

Subheading

A type hierarchy exists when the most important type is in largest, heaviest weight; the subheadings are smaller yet bold; and the least important text (the body copy) is in the smallest and lightest. Body copy also needs to be in a simple font (not script or decorative) so that it can be easily read.

Bullets and Emphasis

Use italics or bold for emphasis, not all capital letters. Use bullets or numbers to offset important points like those below:

Use bullets or numbers to offset important points.Bullets should be solid and bold.Do not use asterix, complex wingdings or symbols.Do no use too much space between your bullet and text.

FLYERS

BE BIG, BE BOLDCUT THROUGHTHE CLUTTERFOCAL POINTS:Dominant visual, big headline(start by making the visual and headlineas big as possible and then size down from there).

CONTRAST:Contrast your type (small body copy)If all type is large, nothing can grab attention.

ALIGNMENT:Chose one kind of alignment (hopefully not centered)Don’t mix center alignment with left or right.

REPETITION:Repeat type in key places (e.g., subheadings)for consistency.

SIMPLICITYUsually no more than 2 or 3 different fonts on a page.

Alternatives to Centering Type

Justify and fit.

Align right or leftagainst a line.

Divide the space with 2 columns of type and a line down the middle.

Align left alignmentagainst right alignment.

Divide the space with a column of type and a corresponding icon.

Create small columns.

• Create a rectangle for a small amount of centered text (the edges reduce the “ragginess”)

Divide the page with curves.Even the most chaotic pageswith too much typecan get a sense of orderwith curves.

Sometimes it’s okay to center short lines of text when you have a strong centered image, but text should not look “raggy.”

In this image, justified type is the largest (smaller type is centered).

(don’t have to be boring).

NEWSLETTERS

Dominant visual, big headline, type columns

Use color bars and boxes.

Integrate visuals with text.

TYPE LAYOUT GUIDELINES

Use columns when laying out large amounts of type.

Thin lines can be used between columns if needed.

Need more gutter spaceif you add lines.

First line indents of paragraphs are not used on web, are rarely used in newsletters and promotional materials,are optional for magazines, and are still used in newspapers.

No indent

Add space between paragraphs if you don’t indent the first lines.

If you do indent . . .

Indenting in InDesign

• Never create an indent by tabbing or typing five spaces. Default tabbing usually creates indents that are way too large, and typing five spaces will result in inconsistent indents.

• Instead, use the Paragraph or Control Panel and set the “First Line Left Indent.”

• According to Peachpit Press, the size of your indent “should depend on your design and on the typeface you’re working with. Typically, the larger the x-height of the font, the larger first-line indent you should use. Book designers often use a one- or two-em indent, so in an 11-point type, the indent might be 11 or 22 points.”

More About Paragraph Formatting and IndentsMore About Setting Indents in Adobe InDesign

Avoid Widows and Orphans

Avoid “Justifying” Type. Align left.

Don’t justify type like this, because it creates “rivers” of white space that flow through the paragraph, and you have to tweak the text a lot to fix it.

Hyphens and Dashes

Hyphen (-) En Dash (–) Em Dash (—)

Hyphen (-) is used to join compound words (e.g., hand-painted statue). Use the hyphen key to create a hyphen.

En Dash (–) is used between dates and times (e.g., 9:00–10:00) InDesign: Option + Hyphen or go to Type > Insert Special Character > Hyphens & Dashes > En Dash. MS Word: Insert > Symbols > More Symbols > Special Characters > Endash Web Code: –

Em Dash (—) is used to emphasize a phrase of a sentence (e.g., The dog was small—but fierce.) InDesign:Option+Shift+Hyphen or Type > Insert Special Character > Hyphens & Dashes > Em Dash. MS Word: Two hyphens will automatically turn into an emdash. Web Code: — but two hyphens are acceptable on the Web (not in print).

*What to Avoid *filling every space on a page.

CENTER ALIGNMENT USING ANNOYING ICONS (stick with bullets, squares,

or check boxes for checklists)Too much space after bullet.

Bad line breaks (like this one) creating widows.

CLUTTER—GIVE IT SPACE, LET IT BREATHE LIKE A FINE WINE. And don’t run type to the edge.

* AVOID ALL CAPITAL LETTERS (EXCEPT SHORT DISPLAY TYPE)

* Type that’s all the same size (use type hierarchy and type contrasts)

* TOO MANY FONTS OR HARD-TO-READ FONTS (stick w/ 2 or 3 on a page)

* More than one dominant visual (divides attention)• Cheezy clip art and borders that secretaries use.

* Filling the corners of a page.

Slanted text (amateurish, hard to read).

QUESTIONS?