Sally and Jimmy's Rules of Typography

By: Paul Felton

Sally’s Friends

Herbert Bayer

Derek Birdsal

Matthew Carter

Lazar El Lissitzky

Adrian Frutiger

Eric Gill

1900-1985, AustriaGraphic designer and type designerWork includes: German bank notes; Die Neue Linie magazine; Universal typeface

1934-, United KingdomGraphic designer and writerWork includes: Common Worship; Notes on Book Design; Penguin Books

1937-, United KingdomType designer and writer, founded Bitsream Work includes: Bell Centennial, Georgia, Shelley Script and Verdana typefaces

1890-1941, RussiaGraphic designer, painter and writerWork includes: From Two Quadrants; propaganda poster Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge

1928-, SwitzerlandType designer, associated with Deberney and Peignot, and LinotypeWork includes: Univers and Frutiger typefaces

1882-1940, United KingdomType designers, sculptor, carver, print maker and writerWork includes: Essay on Typography; Gill Sans and Perpetua typefaces

Jonathan Hoefler

Laszlo Moholy-Nagy

Josef Muller-Brockmann

Paul Renner

Erik Spiekermann

Jan Tschichold

1970-, United States of AmericaType designer, founded Hoefler Type FoundryWork includes: Hoefler text, Didot HTF and Pavisse typefaces

1895-1946, HungaryGraphic Designer, sculptor, photographer and writerWork includes: Malerei Fotografie Flim

1914-1996, SwitzerlandGraphic designer and writerWork includes: The Graphic Artist and his Design Problems; Zurich Tonhalle posters

1878-1956, GermanyGraphic designer, type designer, painter and writerWork includes: Futura typeface; Typographie als Kunst

1947-, GermanyGraphic designer, type designer and writer, founded Meta Design and FontShopWork includes: Stop Stealing Sheep; Meta, Officina and Info typefaces

1902-1974, GermanyGraphic designer, type designer and writerWork includes: Munich film poster; Die Neue Typographie; Penguin Books; Sabon typeface

Jimmy’s Cronies

David Carson

Neville Brody

Nick Bell

Edward Fella

Jeffery Keedy

Stefan Sagmeister

Carlos Segura of T26

Zuzana Licko of Émigré

1956-, United States of AmericaWorks: Sufer and Raygun magazines

1957-, United KingdomWork: Fuse and Arena magazines; Nike adverts

1965-, United KingdomWork: British Nuclear Fuel Screen animations; Lost & Found exhibition tablecloths; Eye magazine

1938-, United States of AmericaWorks: Fella Parts and Outwest typeface

1958-, United States of AmericaWork: Keedy Sons, Hard Times and Lush Us typefaces

1962-, AustriaWork: Made You Look; cover of Lou Reed album Set the Twilight Reeling

1956-, CubaWork: T26 Font Foundry, Square 45 typeface

1961-, CzechoslovakiaWork: Émigré magazine; Matrix and Base typefaces

Rudy VanderLans of Émigré

Barry Deck

Jonathan Barnbrook

Michael Worthington

Phil Baines

Alan Kitching

Vince Forst

1955-, The NetherlandsWork: Émigré magazine; Suburbon typeface

1962-, United States of AmericaWork: Template Gothic and Caustic Biomorph typefaces

1966-. United KingdomWork: Virus Font Foundry, Mason and Priori typefaces; Adbusters projects; Damien Hirst projects

1966-, United KingdomWork: Typographic Landscapes; X-tra magazines

1958-, United KingdomWork: Type & Typography; Penguin Books; Can You? Typeface

1940-, United KingdomWork: Why Iraq? Why Now? poster; Dazed & Confused: the word issue cover

1964-, United KingdomWork: Big magazine; Nike adverts; D&AD Report

I. Sally knows that she should only use three typefaces per document.Sally knows that simplicity is better than the confusion that the use of many typefaces can cause.

7

Sally is a good girl.

She always follows the rules.

Sally knows that if she follows the rules, her designs will be much better than the other boys and girls. If she strays, her designs will be messy and unattractive. Sally keeps all of her typefaces in order and makes sure she always does what she is told.

Euphorigenic, 28pt

Honey Script, 21pt

Quicksand, 10pt

I. Jimmy feels the use of more than three typefaces is OK.

Jimmy feels that using more than three typefaces in a single document can be dynamic and create interest.

9

Jimmyis a know-it-all.He does whatever he thinks is best. Jimmy Feelsthat he is in charge of all his designs and therefore

WHATIS BEST.He feels the rules will make his design

boringand predictable. Jimmy does whatever he wants to t ypefacesand makes sure he always does

what he

wants

to do.

KNOWS

II. Sally knows that headlines always need to be large and at the top of the page.

Sally cares about the readers of her designs and knows the best way to show them the headline is to make it large and position it at the top of the page.

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Sally is a good girlShe always follows the rules. Sally knows that if she follows the rules, her designs will be much better than the other boys and girls. If she strays, her designs will be messy and unattractive. Sally keeps all of her typefaces in order and makes sure she always does what she is told.

Euphorigenic, 43pt

Quicksand, 10pt

II. Jimmy feels that making headlines large and placing them at the top of the document is boring.

Jimmy feels a simple font weight is sufficient in showing hierarchy. He also feels headlines shouldn’t have to be at the top of the page. The reader is smart enough to find it on their own.

13

Jimmy is a know it all. He does whatever he thinks is best. Jimmy feels that he is in charge of all of his designs and therefore knows what is best for everything he does. He feels the rules will make his designs boring and predictable. Jimmy does whatever he wants to typefaces and makes sure he always does what he wants to.

This could be the title.

This could also be the title. Titles could be anywhere!

III. Sally knows that only 8pt-10pt size font should be used for all body copy.Sally wants all of her body copy to be neat and legible. She knows anything smaller would be too difficult too read and anything too larger would be overkill.

15

Sally is a good girl. She always follows the rules. Sally knows that if she follows the rules, her designs will be much better than the other boys and girls. If she strays, her designs will be messy and unattractive. Sally keeps all of her typefaces in order and makes sure she always does what she is told.



Quicksand, 8pt with 11pt leading



III. Jimmy feels body copy type shouldn’t be restricted to 8 pt -10 pt font.

Jimmy thinks limiting type to these sizes can make a document boring. He wants to fill the page is body copy.

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IV. Sally knows that any typeface that is not legible is not truly a typeface.Sally finds the dingbats and disordered fuse fonts are pointless. You won’t see any of those in Sally’s designs.

19

Sally is a good girl. She always follows the rules.




Cheshire Initials

Signerica

PaperCut

Pincoyablack

Wingdings

IV. Jimmy feels if something is considered a typeface, then it is a typeface.

Typefaces, at the root, are just symbols and therefore Jimmy feels dingbats and the like should be used along with other typefaces.

21

The light teal area you can see is a part of a “Q” from the typeface, ChunkFive, which is a legible typeface as you can see above this paragraph. You can’t see that’s it’s a “Q” so it’s not legible. If the Commandments are to be adhered to, in this instance is ChunkFive no longer considered a typeface?

ChunkFive "Q"

Cheshire Initials, by contrast, is not strictly legible, but it portrays a sense of highly flourished letter forms, so it does, in a sense, communicate as a typeface.

V. Sally knows that kerning letters is very important.

If Sally kerns her words so the white space becomes visually equalized, it will save her readers time in figuring out the words.

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Sally

SallySally i s a good girl .



Without kerning

With kerning

Loose tracking

Normal tracking

Tight tracking

V. Jimmy feels kerning isn’t that important.

Jimmy feels showing different lengths of white space between letters can be interesting and crate a whole new design.

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J i m m y i s

a k n o w i t a l l .

VI. Sally knows how to keep it subtle and not over emphasize the key elements in text. Sally knows if she over emphasizes elements within her text, her readers will become confused and distracted. And no one wants to feel like that.

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Italics

Underline

Font weight

Color

VI. Jimmy feels over emphasizing text in a document entices the reader to look closer.

Subtlety isn’t in Jimmy’s vocabulary and feels it shouldn’t make its way into any of his designs, ever.

29

Jimmy is a know it all. He does whatever he thinks is best. Jimmy feels that he is in charge of all of his designs and therefore knows what is best for everything he does.

He feels the rules will make his designs boring and predictable. Jimmy does whatever he wants to typefaces and makes sure he always does what he wants to.

VII. Sally knows never to use all capital letters when setting vast amounts of body copy.Sally want it to be as easy as possible to read vast amounts of body copy. She knows the varying heights of ascenders and descenders helps to do so.

31


SALLY IS A GOOD GIRL. SHE ALWAYS FOLLOWS THE RULES. SALLY KNOWS THAT IS SHE FOLLOWS THE RULES, HER DESIGNS WILL BE BETTER THAN ALL OF THE OTHER BOYS AND GIRLS. IF SHE STRAYS, HER DESIGNS WILL BE MESSY AND UNATTRACTIVE. SALLY KEEPS ALL OF HER TYPEFACES IN ORDER AND MAKES SURE SHE ALWAYS DOES WHAT SHE IS TOLD.

Uppercase and lowercase text

Uppercase text

VII. Jimmy feels using all capitals in body copy shows it’s importance.

Jimmy knows that the varying geometric forms of some typefaces can create some fairly amazing designs. It also is still fairly easy for his readers to read.

33

JIMMY IS AKNOW IT ALL.HE DOES WHATEVER HE THINKS IS

BEST. JIMMY FEELS THAT HE IS IN CHARGE OF ALL OF HIS DESIGNS AND THEREFORE KNOWS WHAT IS BEST

FOR EVERYTHING

HE DOES. HE FEELS THE RULES WILL MAKE HIS DESIGNS

BORING

AND PREDICTABLE. JIMMY DOES WHATEVER HE WANTS

TO TYPEFACES AND MAKE SURE HE ALWAYS DOES WHAT HE WANTS TO.

VIII. Sally knows she must always align every letter and word on a baseline.It’s hard to read words when they aren’t positioned on a baseline. Sally always aligns her text on an invisible, straight line.

35

Sally is agood girl.Word Deviation

Letter Deviation

Vertical Deviation

S e a w y f l o s t e r l s.h l a s o l w h u e

Sally

is

a

good

girl.

VIII. Jimmy feels aligning letters and words on a baseline is only one way to approach type.

Typefaces may have been created on a baseline, but Jimmy feels there is no expectation in leaving them that way.

37

IX. Sally knows to always use flush-left, ragged right when aligning her type.Any other alignment strains the eyes and makes it more difficult to read which is why Sally always uses left align.

39


Sally is a good girl. She always follows the rules. Sally knows that if she follows the rules, her designs

will be much better than the other boys and girls. If she strays, her designs will be messy and

unattractive. Sally keeps all of her typefaces in order and makes sure she always does what she is told.


Sally is a good girl. She always follows the rules. Sally knows that if she follows the rules, her designs

will be much better than the other boys and girls. If she strays, her designs will be messy and

unattractive. Sally keeps all of her typefaces in order and makes sure she always does what she is told.

Flush-left, ragged right text

Flush-right, ragged left text

Justified text

Centered text

IX. Jimmy feels using different alignments can be just as legible as using flush left, ragged right.

Jimmy feels using the unusual alignments makes his compositions more interesting.

41

Jimmy is a know it all. He does whatever he thinks is best. Jimmy feels that he is in charge of all of his designs and therefore knows what is best for everything he does.

Jimmy is a know it all.He does whatever he thinks is best. Jimmy feels

that he is in charge of all of his designs and therefore knows what is best for everything he does. He feels the rules will make his designs

boring and predictable.

Jimmy does whatever he wants to typefaces and makes sure he

always does what he wants.

Jimmy does whatever he wants to typefaces and makes sure he always

does what he wants to.

He feels the rules will make his designs boring and

predictable.

X. Sally knows not to make lines of text long or short. If Sally uses between forty and seventy characters per line then her text will be easier for her readers to read.


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Short lines

Medium lines

Long lines

X. Jimmy feels making lines of text longer or shorter can lead the reader’s eye around the document.

If Jimmy creates long lengths of type, he can lure his readers to different parts of the page they might not have otherwise gone.

45did you see me?

Jim

my is a

know

it all. H

e d

oes w

hatever h

e th

inks is b

est. J

imm

y feels th

at h

e is in

charg

e of a

ll of his d

esig

ns a

nd

thereforeknowswhatisbest.Hefeelstheruleswillmakehisdesignsboringand predictable.Jimmydoeswhateverhewantstotypefacesand makes sure he always does what he wants to do.

“One of the best books I’ve ever read!”

“One of the most creative use of typefaces I have seen in years!”

“It’s a good wholesome book. Something Americans are missing today.”

- Little Billy

- Johann Gutenburg

- Mrs. Boyden, Librarian

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Sally and Jimmy's Rules of Typography