Larissa Jaster Graphic Design Studio|

Do your designs have bad typography? Here is an awesome list to see if your design isn’t looking as professional as it could be. For graphic designers and others wanting to create good design, these are good tips to be reminded of every now and then.

(Taken from the book “The Non-Designer’s Type Book” by Robin Williams.)

1. Using Incorrect Quote & Prime Symbols – There are 3 major mistakes a designer can make when dealing with quotation marks.

• Straight quotes are not true quotation marks. Straight quotes were for typewriter days, but instead they should be replaced with the ‘curly’ quote symbols.

• Another mistake is typing curly quotes when you need inch and foot marks (prime marks).

• Quotation marks should always hang over the edge of the paragraph. (See these mistakes below.)

2. Double Returns Between Paragraphs – This leaves big, awkward gaps. Learn to use “Paragraph space after” and “Paragraph space before” to adjust the spacing. Check your software manual for how to do this. Notice the difference in space between the two paragraphs:

3. Two spaces After Punctuation – we were taught to do this when we took keyboarding class, but it is not visually appealing. Double spaces after punctuation often create “visual rivers” or holes in text. Only use one space after punctuation, and it will help the text flow more smoothly and look more professional especially when there are large blocks of text.

4. Gray Boxes Behind Text – Beginners often use these to make important parts of the text stand out. Instead, try a headline, reverse text, pull quotes, or maximize white space.

5. Centered Layouts – These layouts create a stable, sedate, and formal look because it is so symmetrical and balanced. Try making visual lines with type instead by using flush left or flush right.

6. Borders Around Everything – Beginners feel unsafe with type that is not contained. Give your type white space, it defines the edges and maintains freedom.

7. Half-inch Indents – Yikes! We aren’t using typewriters anymore so let’s improve the look. Use approximately two spaces or an em space (a blank space as wide as the point size of the type you are using).

8. Hyphens For Bullets – this is a typewriter habit. Use the round dot bullet • (Option Eight) or use a shape or a dingbat.

9. Embossed & Outlined Shadowed Type – This gives the impression that you are trying to make your type look fancy because you don’t know what else to do with it. This goes along with word art, cosmic sans, rainbow gradients, skewed text, and dark shadowed type. It screams armature.

10. Twelve-point Type and Auto Leading - 12 pt type is a little too large for body copy. Try 10 pt or 11 pt type instead. Add an extra 1 or 1.5 points of line spacing or leading. Notice how much better the second one with more leading and smaller text looks?

11. Underline – Don’t ever underline. Instead, use italics, a bolder version of the type, a larger point size, or a color to emphasize text instead. If you really must have a line under text, draw a rule under the type instead.

12. ALL CAPS – Don’t use all caps if something needs to be read quickly. All caps do not make the words stand out, instead they are more difficult to read because we can’t recognize the shape of a word.

13. Bad Spelling & Grammar – This is a dead give away that you did not proofread or spell check. If you aren’t good with spelling and grammar, have someone read your work who is!

Good typography is a matter of becoming more aware of details and by studying good design. A score of less than 3 means you are doing pretty well – keep teaching others (and suggest they link to this post:)

What was your score?