Updating Typography Rules For The Digital Platform

The basic rules of typography are hundreds of years old. However, typography on a computer or mobile device does not have to play by the same rules as typography on a typewriter. The rules were originally written for printing presses and typewriters, so some of them might be out of date for modern needs.

A new online resource has been released. It includes five rules of typography that any designer can use. The first rule is related to how large the body of the text looks. Designers should begin by making sure that the body of the text looks good. They should do this because the reader's eyes will be drawn to it, and it takes up the greatest amount of space on a document.

The second rule of the five relates to the size of the typeface. The writer suggests a typeface size of 10 to 12 point for printed documents and 15 to 25 pixels for digital documents. These sizes are comfortable for most people to read. Line spacing between lines of text is also important. The resource suggests a 120 to 145 percent line spacing distance between rows of words. The fourth rule relates to line width. The writer suggests a width of 45 to 90 characters, which would amount to two to three alphabets. The fifth rule relates to font choice. The writer of this resource suggests paying for professional fonts instead of using free ones.

The people who took a look at this set of typography rules had a few thoughts to share. One did not like the links in the "smallcaps" section. That visitor thought it constituted a poor user interface. Another user thought it was a good resource for implementing typefaces. One of the users recommended a hard copy book called "The PC is not a Typewriter," by Robin Williams. The user stated that this book will get anyone up to speed on typography. As a bonus, the book is a short read. Most visitors to the site agreed that the list of rules could be a great resource for beginner design students. For more information click here https://practicaltypography.com/typography-in-ten-minutes.html.