Basic Typography

Book excerpt: For designers, non-designers, and desktop publishers. Fine typography is timeless; typesetting technology may change, but there is only so much a good computer program can do. Using type creatively has more to do with aesthetics and common sense than it does with how the type is set, who sets it, or how much it costs. For guidance we can no longer look to the professional typographer for help; we are now the typographers. Basic Typography explains clearly and simply how type works, so the designer and non-designer alike will be able to take full advantage of type's enormous potential. To help the reader find the necessary information quickly, the book is presented in a series of self-contained units that are grouped under three headings: Terminology, Design, and Copyfitting.