Beyond "Because It Looks Good"

By Cindy Reid

Here's an interesting little book for you. If you

• need help explaining to your client or boss precisely why a particular font was chosen,
• are in need of a refresher on dittomarks v. quotation marks v. apostrophes, or
• have a hankering to learn some desktop publishing tips and tricks,

you might want to take a closer look at this one: The Non-Designer's Type Book, by Robin Williams.

I must confess, sometimes I don't purchase the exact book an instructor requires. Recently, though, I had reason to pick up this book for an art class. Due to its rather bad reviews, it very nearly didn't make it to my shelf, but because I found it nice and cheap at Powell's I went ahead and bought it anyway. At the very least, I thought it might serve as a review from my journalism school days.

I read much of the 231-page book the week before class began. The reviews were right. The author does sometimes assert herself as a kind of know-it-all, talking down to her readers. At first, I, too, wanted to close it up and stick it in one of my forever-lost piles.

I was right, too. It gave me a good review of the basics.

This book is full of short, manageable chapters, widely varying fonts and type styles and descriptions, and tons of applicable examples. Further, Williams includes specific valuable tips and tricks, for various publishing applications on both the Mac and the PC.

Ultimately, what makes this skinny 33-chapter book a decent one is the reminder that there are a myriad of reasons that go into making good typeface choices. Williams runs through the basics of x-heights, em and en dashes, and the differences between legibility and readability. Our old friends Gutenberg and Aldus Manutius even make an appearance.

Think you can still use the 'ole "because it looks good" standby? Well, maybe.

Even though this book seems best for a beginner, it does us all good by arming us once again with many concrete reasons for our choices, including the historical ones. Now, here's to really explaining it to our clients.

If you are interested in checking this book out for yourself, the ISBN is 0201353679. It is published by Peachpit Press, ©1998, and is available at most bookstores, including Powells.

Cindy Reid is a freelance technical writer/editor and web site designer. Cindy can be reached at cindycomm@attbi.com.