dhosek@euler.claremont.edu (Don Hosek) (03/27/91)
In article <1991Mar26.154304.24123@pmafire.inel.gov>, geoff@pmafire.inel.gov (Geoff Allen) writes: > I complained about a book set in a sans serif face and > briand@tekig5.PEN.TEK.COM (Brian D Diehm) writes: >>Actually, what you are complaining about is poor typography rather than >>sans serif typefaces. > There is a *lot* of leading between lines. I know that some is > needed to facilitate finding the next line, but there's a > practical limit. They exceeded it. > The type seems to be printed grey, not black. This combined > with the wide open line spacing makes for a light page. > The font used (I'm not a true font connoisseur, so I can't identify it) > has a rather large x-height, so that may have been the motivator to lead > it more than usual. I don't know. But it would seem to me that one > should let the x-height be whatever it is and lead for the line length > and ease of reading rather than color. Trying to control color with > leading (at least in this case) seems to be a bad idea. There are some general principles for determining how much leading should be used; in particular, long lines require more leading than short lines, darker fonts more leading than lighter fonts and fonts with large x-heights should receive more leading than fonts with small x-heights. In this case, the designer apparently accepted the x-height rule and rejected/forgot about the font weight rule (unless the final printing process was poor which might account for the greyness of the printing). -dh -- Don Hosek | To retrieve files from ymir via the mailserver, dhosek@ymir.claremont.edu | send a message to mailserv@ymir.claremont.edu Quixote Digital Typography | with a line saying send [DIRECTORY]FILENAME 714-625-0147 | where DIRECTORY is the FTP directory (sans ---------------------------+ "anonymous") and FILENAME is the filename, e.g. "send [tex]00readme.txt". There is a list of files in each directory under the name 00files.txt. Binary files are not available by this technique.
amy@circus.camex.com (Amy Lindsay) (03/30/91)
I think I've missed something. What was this book that we're been
talking about?
I have seen cases of extreme "designy-ness" which have pushed the
limits of "good typography" and it worked. For instance, poetry.
I saw a rather nice booklet set 18/36 in Americana. Of course, I
wouldn't want to set a user's manual in it...
--amy
"Don't make rules. The Designers will hear you and try to break them."
A.G.Lindsay Internet: amy@camex.com (otherwise, use your best guess.)
Typography & Design Department ~ Camex, Inc. ~ Boston, MA (617-426-3577)
"Slip...Landing technique to compensate for crosswinds in which pilot crosses
controls to dramatically reduce lift (see falling rocks.)"