Pocket Bringhurst

pocket bringhurst

POCKET BRINGHURST julia eversmann

Pocket Bringhurst Copyright © by Julia Eversmann artd 222 Typographic Practice Molly C. Briggs, Instructor, and Natalie F. Smith, Course Advisor Fall 2022 School of Art & Design University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Robert Bringhurst is a Canadian typographer, poet and translator.

He is the author of The Elements of Typographic Style, which is recognized as the authoritative book on typography. The Elements of Typographic Style was originally published in 1992 by Hartley & Marks, Publishers. It has been revised and updated many times over since the original publication.

Pocket Bringhurst is a compilation of the author’s notes after reading Bringhurst’s The Elements of Typographic Style during the Fall 2022 semester. This project was designed by the course advisor, book designer and scholar Natalie F. Smith, not only to provide a handy reference for future use and to help teach other students, but also to put the principles of the text into practice. The course was artd 222, Typographic Practice and was taught by Molly Catherine Briggs, based on original research by Natalie F. Smith, in the School of Art & Design at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

This book is dedicated to my past self, who wouldn’t believe this was something I had the ability to create.

contents foreword 9 designing for the text 11 the page itself 13 planning ahead 15 creating a structure

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analphabetic characters 19 choosing and combining type 21 shaping the page 25 understand your tools 29 grooming the font 31 do your research glossary 35

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foreword I started this semester knowing little to nothing about typography. I would say I knew the basics, but I had no idea how many subtle rules were involved in the process of typesetting.

It’s not just about making something that looks good. There is a guideline to follow that ensures that your design will not only look good, it will work.

Readability is the priority, always. The Elements of Typographic Style leaves nothing to the imagination in terms of how to achieve that. This book, however, just barely scratches the surface of typography. It was made to be easier to navigate, and more helpful for the amateur typesetter.

The following chapters outline specifically the ways in which you can make sure your page design is going to work, every single time. It can get tedious, it can get overwhelming, but it is extremely worth it in the end.

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designing for the text

1

Good typesetting prioritizes the intent of the author.

One of the main ideas that persists through Chapter One of The Elements of Typographic Style by Robert Bringhurst is that typesetters need to be focused on properly presenting the author’s work through visual language. The author of a book puts countless hours into their work, and that effort must be matched by the designer who is typesetting their work for the rest of the world to see.

He also spends a lot of time discussing what makes good typography. Timelessness is an essential quality for type to be enjoyed for decades to come. If the typesetter is focused on making the design seriously embody the author’s voice, rather than just making it look “good,” the design will hold more strongly over time.

Later on, he brings up how important it is that the differ-

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designing for the text

ent sections of the text are distinct from each other. Things like the headings, subheads, folios, must be separate from each other in their design so that the text is easy to navigate for the reader. A complication he brings up in doing this, however, is that these elements must flow together smoothly while still being distinct from each other.

Moving into a broader category, Bringhurst also covers the importance of the composition of the page properly displaying the text to the reader. It is not enough for it to just look good, the typesetter must actually read the text they are working with that the author provided, and ensure their page layout enhances the content.

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the page itself

2

Step back and consider the overall color of the page.

The second chapter of The Elements of Typographic Style began with Bringhurst explaining the importance of “evenness.” This refers to the consistency of spacing, composition, and other elements involved on the page. These work together to create an even amount of color across the page that is satisfying to read and look at.

He then moves on to clarify how exactly you can find the correct amount of space to use between words. This is where the em space comes in: it is equal to the point size of the type.

Usually, a good amount of word space to use is a quarter of an em, which is one fourth of your word size.

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the page itself

Changing small details can make a big difference.

The importance of when to employ more or less letter spacing than usual is discussed later on. Letters that are set in all caps are almost always going to benefit from added letter spacing. Kerning, the letter spacing between individual characters, is needed when the spacing employed by the type creator is inconsistent. It is important to employ it in even the smallest details: between a character and a punctuation mark, between a capital letter and lowercase.

The shape of your paragraphs carry meaning on their own.

Going to the more general formatting of the page, Bringhurst also talks about when it is appropriate to use different styles of paragraphs. Block paragraphs, for example, are much more formal. We typically see them in business memos or directions and labels, so it’s best to avoid this formal visual language in the context of something like a book.

In that scenario, it’s better to use indented paragraphs for readability and formatting.

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planning ahead

3

Set limits for yourself on scale.

You shouldn’t be typesetting something with the mindset of constantly experimenting with what point size looks best in that particular moment. Instead, Bringhurst tells us to only use a small set of sizes when you are typesetting, and ensure that the sizes you do decide to use are relevant to each other in some way. Before you begin typesetting the entire body copy you are working with, decide on what hierarchy in size you are going to employ, and what those different sizes are going to function as in the design.

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planning ahead

When in doubt, think about how it works outside the realm of typesetting.

There are some very clear rules in writing that seem obvious to most people; many acronyms are “set in caps because that is the way we pronounce them” (Bringhurst 49) and typically how they are referred to in text. However, there are moments when you will be typesetting and you come across something more ambiguous. An example brought up in Chapter 3 was the acronym Unesco. It is an acronym, but it is almost always spoken as an actual word. In this scenario, Bringhurst tells us to apply the same formatting to the text as you would in your speech: if people are more commonly pronouncing Unesco as its own word, format it as an actual word.

Don’t use every element at your disposal, no matter how enticing it may seem.

Nowadays, every typeface package is supplying us with countless different fonts, covering a wide range of light to heavy weights. Even though having this amount of options can be exciting, it is up to the typesetter not to go overboard.

Bringhurst explains that while they can be useful in moderation, using too many fonts in your design can do more harm than good in having a simple and effective design. The same can be said of contrast. While there are many options to separate your titles from your section headings from your body text, you do not need to make these different elements vastly different from one another. Try adding small differences at first before moving any further.

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creating a structure

4

Headings don't need drastic contrast from your body text.

In this chapter, Bringhurst begins by discussing how you should design your title page. Contrary to what you might initially think, your title page should properly communicate what the following text is going to be about. If the book is loud and has a lot of personality, this can be conveyed on the title page; if it’s factual and straight to the point, the title page should communicate that before the reader even gets to the first paragraph.

Once you get into the actual content of the book, the titles on these pages should serve to work along with the text, not overshadow it. The page should appear to be balanced overall, so each case should be evaluated to decide whether the title needs to be more heavily contrasted from the body, or if it can simply use the same font as the body

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creating a structure

with changes like using all caps, different sizes, weights, or other formatting options.

Never leave a blank recto, unless you are designing the front or back matter.

Rectos are the sign of new beginnings: your chapter opener is almost always going to be on the recto. The verso, on the other hand, can give a moment of pause to a reader before they move on to the next chapter of their book. For this reason, it is important to never leave a recto blank, unless you are designing the front or back matter, because the reader will feel as though that new beginning has ended. They will not be motivated to keep reading.

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analphabetic characters

5

Look at your analphabetic characters when choosing a typeface to work with.

Analphabetic characters can sometimes be an afterthought in font creation. Bringhurst tells us that many fonts won’t even use their own original characters, they will just use a set that is well-designed from another typeface.

Analphabetic characters have specific rules based on what they are being used for.

With ampersands, it is best to always use the italic version, even if it is being used within roman text. The italic version of an ampersand is often going to be designed better than the roman version. Parentheses should always use the roman version regardless of whether your text is set in italics or roman.

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choosing and combining type

6

Not every typeface is built for printing.

Just because something looks good on your screen when you’re designing it, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to look that good when it prints. Some typefaces were designed solely with their digital appearance in mind, so it might not read as well on paper.

This is why it’s important to learn the history behind whatever typeface you’re working with. Was it originally used in metal printing, or was it designed for modern printing? This will have an affect on how it will appear in your design, but it will also have an affect on how it presents the type. A typeface that is noticeably older may not be the best face for an extremely modern subject matter, and a new, geometric serif may not be the best choice for a historic text.

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choosing and combining type

The background behind your font choice should be more than “it looks good.”

Your favorite font isn’t always going to be the best choice for what you’re typesetting. Sure, it needs to look good, but it also needs to suit the content. Bringhurst brought up a book about bicycle racing as an example: the font used should be “lean, strong and swift; perhaps it will also be Italian” (95).

You should consider these smaller details when selecting a typeface to work with, envisioning what will best transport the reader into the book without them noticing.

The font won't be successful without a typographer’s touch.

After you’ve done your research and chosen the best typeface for your book, you still have work to do. Setting the body copy in a specific font is not going to do all of the work. The way you layout the text on the page, organize it with different formatting, will have just as much of a role in making the design work as the typeface itself. It’s good to start off with the perfect font for the subject you’re working with, but you then have to design it in a way that will be the most readable: how will you separate different sections, quotes, examples, anything that needs to be clear for your audience.

It’s exciting to have thousands and thousands of options, but strive to keep it simple.

There are an abundance of typefaces available to us. Not

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pocket bringhurst

only through Adobe’s library, but across countless other platforms, too. While you might immediately want to go through and just start using whatever cool font catches your eye, it’s worth it to step back and start off experimenting with a single font. A well-developed face will have plenty to offer in terms of special characters you may need, small caps, different weights.

See what you can accomplish with this single font while you’re typesetting. You’ll better understand everything that is available to you through InDesign because you have explored in-depth, and you’ll learn what to look for when selecting typefaces in the future.

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shaping the page

7

Envision the physical version of the book, even while you’re working digitally.

Even though you’re creating these pages while looking at a screen, they’re not going to stay digital forever! Printing while you work is essential to understanding how the book will actually function. Narrower pages need spines that will properly keep them laying flat, as the lighter weight of the pages will not be inclined to weigh them down.

Make sure you fully understand the content in what you’re typesetting before you decide on page dimensions or any layouts. Is it going to need wider pages to accommodate maps, tables, illustrations?

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shaping the page

Consider how long it will take someone to read through the text.

For text that is going to be read for long periods at a time, set your columns to be taller than they are wide. Wider columns are intended more so for beginning readers, and setting them taller will communicate to the reader that you understand they are at a certain level to be able to comprehend the text as you have decided to set it.

Newspapers and magazines, typically a quicker read than a novel, have very long and narrow columns. This does not serve well for continuous reading, or for reading one thing over and over again.

The textblock does not need to be perfectly proportional to the shape of your page.

Balance can be found in other ways. To keep the reader engaged, the page should be designed so that the textblock differs from the proportions of your page as a whole. In doing this, you should consider the role of the margins just much as the role of the text. Where will the reader’s thumbs go?

Will you need to include any additional information within the margins?

Make decisions based on what will best guide the reader through the text.

When you’re adding folios, think about what will stick out as you’re flipping through the pages. They should stand out enough from the main text to be easily found, but not so much that they draw your attention away from it.

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pocket bringhurst

In the same vein, you shouldn’t be restating the obvious.

If it does not benefit the reader, there is no reason to repeat yourself: for example, it is not always necessary to type the word “chapter” to denote the beginning of a new chapter if the page design already communicates that. Running heads are an interesting topic here because while they are repetitive in a way, they can also aid in reader navigation. Therefore, it is best to use them only when they are actually useful.

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understand your tools

8

Appreciate all of the different options offered within a typeface, but don’t go overboard.

Within a single typeface, there can sometimes be tens of options to choose from. Italic, bold, semibold, medium, book, light, extrabold. Really, anything you could ever possibly want! However, with all of these elements at your disposal, you shouldn’t overload your design with every possible option. Stick to just a few different weights or styles that serve your design properly, that way your reader won’t be distracted by any extra flair.

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understand your tools

Just as you design pages for print with their physical form in mind, design type that will go on screen for that medium.

What works on paper is not going to work the same way online. Bringhurst tells us that the pixels on a screen can end up distorting the more intricate pieces of your chosen typeface, and this just gets worse at lower resolutions. For this reason, it is best to go with low-contrast faces for type that will be read digitally. Further suggestions for setting type digitally is to use narrower textblocks, ragged right alignment, and frequent but simple headings.

Be weary of printers that aren’t doing your design full justice.

Even though you are designing your work with print in mind, not every printer is fully equipped to present your design. Because of this, you may not be getting the full picture of what’s working and what isn’t if you aren’t properly viewing what you’ve done. If you’re using a font that’s high contrast, or perhaps more bold, a printer that is low on ink isn’t going to show you if your design is successful. Make sure that you are using the correct printer for the job, and the correct ink for the paper you are printing on, before you finalize your design.

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grooming the font

9

If you are going to make alterations to a font, make sure it’s not just time to move on.

Even the most well-designed fonts need fine-tuning when you’re typesetting. But, if you find yourself having to make so many changes that you’re basically redesigning the basics of the font, it’s best to just select another for your project.

The text that you’re working with should be the priority, always.

You’ve been working with the same text for awhile. You have this page design that you’ve been wanting to try for a while, and you think it could work here. After going through and typesetting with this design, it doesn’t serve the text as well

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grooming the font

as it could. Should you just move on for the sake of the design and let the text sit awkwardly? No! The needs of the text should always come first. It doesn’t matter if you did something that you’re attached to; go back and rework the design until it both looks good and properly suits the needs of the text itself.

Make sure you’re keeping an eye on kerning.

Even if you are working with some of the best fonts out there, they are going to require fine tuning in the design process.

Pay attention to the little details as you go, and see where you can adjust the kerning to sit properly. Bringhurst tells us specifically that “there is no such thing as a font whose kerning cannot be improved.”

You should also be checking the kerning of the word space! White space is just as important as actual text in terms of how much they both contribute to the page design. Some letters may have awkward kerning near certain letters, such as the lowercase f. So, it is best to double check these things before moving on.

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do your research

10

Don’t rip the font you want off of some random website.

When you finally decide what font or fonts you want to incorporate in your project, you should make sure you go about obtaining that font properly. Over the course of time, so many versions have been ripped off or even edited to differ from the original purposefully. Both of these things lead to the font being warped: it might not come with all of the properties it was originally designed to have, and that’s the opposite of what you want.

If you want the guarantee that you’re working with the font exactly as the designer intended, work with a licensed version of the font. This ensures that there won’t be any alterations that will impact your experience in using it, and it also ensures that you will be supporting the original creator, if they are still alive.

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do your research

Fully research the background of a font before using it.

Fonts do not exist in a vacuum. They are meticulously crafted by someone, sometimes multiple people, and you should consider this heavily when scrolling through the thousands of options available today. Typefaces can grow to have different meanings that differ from the original intentions of the designer, or the designer themselves can have a dark history that you may not want to be supporting through using their font.

Blackletter fonts as a whole should be used with caution.

During WWII, the Nazis used blackletter fonts constantly in their propaganda, and this should be considered if you think you want to use it in your work. Blackletter was and still is symbolic of supporting Nazis, depending on the context it is used in.

Lithos and Neuland, two inscriptional/calligraphic capitals, have long histories of stereotyping African-Americans.

Despite this, they are still commonly used today. I would suggest avoiding them altogether and to never use any typeface that has a history of racism.

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glossary Double Prime: A mark that looks like this, ‘’, which signifies inches. Be aware of accidentally using this in place of quotation marks.

Ligatures: Two or more characters are combined into a glyph to appear as though the individual letters are connected. See ff, ffi, ffl, fj, ffj Baseline: The line which all letters rest on, but which is passed by letters p and q.

Blind Folio: A page that is accounted for in the numbered pages, but which has no visible folio on the actual page.

Color: The overall sense of color achieved by the page com-

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glossary

position. Letterspacing, leading, and different formatting choices contribute to the overall color of the page.

Drop Folio: A folio that is placed on the bottom of a page, in contrast to other pages having the folio at the top. Typically used on chapter openings.

Extenders: Any part of the letterform that goes below the baseline, or goes above the midline. Includes ascenders and descenders.

FL/RR: Type set with an even left margin, and a ragged right margin.

Gutter: The blank column between two columns of type, or the margins at the spine between two facing textblocks.

Italic: More cursive than roman, but less cursive than script fonts.

Justify: The length of the line is adjusted so that it is flush left and flush right.

Leading: The vertical measure from baseline to baseline.

Pica: A unit of measure equal to 12 points.

Point: A unit that is one twelfth of a pica.

Solid: The linespace is the same as the type size, no additional leading.

Text figures: Match the lowercase in size and color.

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pocket bringhurst

Titling Figures: Match the uppercase in size and color.

Versal: Large capital at the beginning of a paragraph, can be dropped or elevated.

Word Space: Space between words. Usually at a fixed size when type is set ragged right, but can vary if justified.

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This book was designed, written, and edited by Julia Eversmann.

The text face used is Calluna, designed by Jos Buivenga.

Headings are in Futura, designed by Paul Renner. This digital version of Futura was made by Paratype.