There are many good books on type. Here are my two favorites. | Common typographical mistakesIf words like kerning, leading, tracking, serif, ligature, drop-cap, DPI, and descender sound unfamiliar or even intimidating to you, you may be making one or more of the following common typographical errors: - "inch marks" instead of “smart quotes”
- auto leading (the computer software default spacing between lines is often too much, especially in headlines)
too many different typefaces (the “ransom note effect”) - in printed materials sans serif type such as Helvetica or Avant Garde as body-copy (it’s great for headlines but the little serif feet make reading body-copy much easier) Note: This is different on the web because of varying monitor resolutions.
- using all UPPERCASE
- 3 or more hyphenated lines in a row
- no white space or trapped white space (White space is a planned element in your design and offers the eye a resting space.)
- baselines not aligned across columns
- drop caps that don't align with a baseline of type
- reversed out serif text (white on black)
- too many boxes, lines and shading (You don’t have to use all the options!)
- using underlining (This was a typewriter way to indicate italics; it cuts off descenders.)
- using two spaces after periods (This causes white rivers in the body-copy.)
- and 300 DPI screened box with serif text (If you have any screens, final output should be done to linotronic film at high resolution.)
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