DWD-DM06
7/5/01
12:56 PM
Page 195
Typography
Italics should have the same weight (or the same tone on the page when you squint at them) as the roman font. Because of this, the use of italics through text does not interrupt the texture of the page, which means they are perfect for stress within a text block. Avoid setting italics in all capitals. In fact, when Aldus used them in 1501, all the text was set in italics except the headings which were set in roman capitals and the first letter of each line which was a roman capital letter—there were no italic capitals. The readability of the text is not sacrificed when you use italics. In testing, there has been no significant difference in the speed and accuracy with which people read italics when compared with the readability of roman letters. Quoted material used to be cited in italics and still can be if desired. Italics are regularly used for the captions to photographs or diagrams and for cross-references. They are also traditionally used for specific text functions: r When you are quoting titles of magazines, newspapers, books, films, plays, long poems, operas, musical works (those with specific non-musical titles only), ballets, shows, paintings and television programs, it is customary to use italics, thus: Australian MacWorld; the Financial Review; Sally Morgan’s My Place; Priscilla: Queen of the Desert; David Williamson’s Emerald City; A.B. ‘Banjo’ Paterson’s The Man from Snowy River; Peggy Glanville-Hicks’s Nausicaa; Peter Sculthorpe’s Kakadu but Peter Sculthorpe’s Piano Concerto; Graeme Murphy’s Nearly Beloved; David Atkins’s Hot Shoe Shuffle; Margaret Preston’s Illawarra Lillies and Waratahs; and Water Rats. However, when citing an article, episode of a television program, short poem or song title, it is customary to use quote marks, not italics, thus: ‘Makeover’ from Desktop; Bananas in Pyjamas ‘The Big Parade’; Judith Wright’s ‘Bora Ring’; ‘Solid Rock’ from Goanna’s Spirit of Place. Also note public service preferences for citations: Hansard but Commonwealth of Australia Gazette. r On the occasions that you need to quote the name of a vehicle, usually a ship or an aircraft, it is a convention to use italics for the name of the vessel. For example, HMAS Success or the Fairstar; Kingsford Smith’s Southern Cross; or even the starship USS Enterprise from Star Trek.
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CHECK LIST
Titles or names that are set in italics: q Books q Magazines q Newspapers q Plays q Operas q Films q Television programs q Long poems q Musical works q Paintings q Sculptures q Artworks q Acts of parliament (when full title, including date; shortened forms are in roman) q Legal documents q Ships q Trains q Aircraft q Genus q Species q Subspecies q Varieties