The Elements of Typographic Style

It must seem an absurd idea that an IT specialist should understand the art of typography. Actually, for those of us without design talent or a natural eye for the layout of text, it is a relief to know that there are rules and guides to the whole process, and if you follow these rules then the page looks right.

These rules apply to forms, HTML pages, documents everywhere there is text. It is a cause of continual puzzlement to me that these most obvious rules are flouted with an inevitable loss of the readability of the text.

This book deals not only with typefaces and the intricacies of the pica and the 'Em' but with the entire layout of the page and the details of layout that makes text easy to read. It shows you how you ought to lay out the margins and tells you the optimum width of columns. It is all part of the process of making life easier for the reader/user rather than waving your artistic sensibilities in front of his face.

This book is not a traditional textbook, but deals with the application of technology to typography. Because of this it is impossible to read without wincing at ones own past errors and suffering twinges or regret that one didn't read it years ago. In an age of proportional fonts, antialiasing and high-resolution rendering systems, it is silly to be so ignorant of the correct way of laying out pages of text. This wonderful book explains it all.