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PART V
The Rules of Typography are reprinted from the book “Digital Type Design Guide” by Sean Cavanaugh (Hayden Books). |
8. Use boldface text sparingly. Avoid the temptation to use boldface text to emphasize words within a passage of text. Bold text is like a magnet to our eyes, and if used incorrectly, ruins the continuity of your text. I once heard someone describe paragraphs containing boldface text as looking like chocolate chip cookies. And that’s an apt description. Bold words stand out like little chocolate bits. Bold text is best used in headings, captions, logos or sometimes at the start of a paragraph as a stylistic device. In place of bold, consider using italics for emphasis. Italics blend in more smoothly with surrounding text, yet clearly indicate emphatic stress. Or simply write in such a way that the emphasis is apparent without having to rely on font or style changes (easier said than done, he said, with a flick of the Italic command).
Bold face text within normal text provides too much emphasis.
9. Avoid using underlined text. Even more distracting than boldface text is underlined text, which is a typographic abomination that should be avoided. Back in the days of typewriters, underlining was the accepted, if not only way to add emphasis. Unfortunately, this carried over into the design of operating systems, explaining why we have Underline commands under our Format menus when we never use the feature. When typesetting, underlined text is only used in special situations such as financial or academic publications. It is also common in the design of web pages.
Underline text is nearly as unsightly as bold face. |
Reserve boldface for items that can be set entirely in bold, and avoid mixing with normal, or non-boldface, text.
