Unit 04: Publish! Projects 13 14/04/2020 - 11/06/2020
TYPE DETAIL ANALISYS:
Comparing the two texts and identify which one is typeset well and why. Finding the mistakes the ‘bad’ example.
In my opinion the text that is typeset well is the text 2, with the text 1 being the one that is badly typeset.
Text 2 has a better flow and readability with text justification done correctly, indented, it has 3 successful word breaks and the title is wider so its clearer.
Reasons why the text 1 is badly typeset ( all of these points refer to the text 1 unless said otherwise ):
- The text justification is done wrongly making some spaces too wide and confusing the lines giving the text an untidy feel. The text justification should be a neutral action non noticeable however on the left text is very noticeable.
- The title and the name of the writer at the end are too condensed together (the kerning is done wrongly).
- The workspaces for this font should be narrow like the type.
- Bad use of the em dash where it should be a hyphen (twenty-ninth line ; thirty-fifth line).
- The usage of fake italic to emphasise a word or sentence in this case the sources of the text and a word in the text in the first lines above the text.
- The word space on the start of sentences is too wide and disrupts the flow of the text.
- The coma should be separated from the final letter of the preceding word by a clear space.
- Bad use of a hyphen when it should be a en dash (second line ; fifth line).
- Break of words in middle for better text justification shouldn’t be done (sixteenth line).
- The ellipsis should have workspaces on either side (first three lines above the text).
- No need of indenting the first paragraph since it is the beginning of the text.
Analysis of what you have learnt and discuss two points that you have found interesting from the reading.
This task taught me a lot of new things about how texts should be typeset for better readability. In order to keep the reader interested and not tired just by looking at the text, I learned that there are some rules a typesetter should follow. I thought text justification was a very interesting point, something no one notices and it makes the text a lot more pleasurable to read. Another thing I found very interesting was the different dashes and how not a lot of people know they were different ( I didn’t until now ), how they are used different in texts and most of us don’t even notice. With this task completed I will now pay more attention to these details in every book I read.
Type Detail Questions:
What is an optimal line length?
Optimal line length is the recommended length for the lines in texts in order for these to be more visually pleasing. Typographers recommend an optimum of between 59 and 60 or between 60 and 70 characters per line.
How does line length affect readability?
Lines that are too short or too long are tiring, and thus detract from readability.
What should the word spaces be?
The recommended word space rule is: as much as necessary, as little as possible. Normally to be around a quarter of the notional body size.
What is text justification?
Text justification is typesetting in which all the lines are spaced equally in terms of length. Where the space that would be left at the end of the line is distributed between the words, or if there is a bigger space left over at the end of the line, the word spaces can be reduced to get another word or syllable, into the line. These should not be noticeable as text justification should be even and neutral.
What is ragging (“hard rag” & “soft rag”)?
Ragging is the way the ‘hyphenation zone’ is produced in unjustified settings. A wide hyphenation zone is describes as a hard rag; while a narrow hyphenation zone is a soft rag.
What is the difference between en-dash, em-dash and hyphen?
There is a couple of differences between these. There is a visual difference where the em dash ( — )extends over the whole width of the notion body of type; the en dash ( – ), which is rarely exactly half of the body width; and the hyphen ( - ) which is smaller then both of the dashes. There is also a usage difference where the hyphen is used at the end of the line to divide broken words, or to link two words or connected parts of a phrase; the en dash is used to link phrases, indicate omissions or with an inserted clause; and lastly the em dash can take the place of commas, parentheses, or colons—in each case to slightly different effect.
When would you use double quotation marks and when single?
Double quotation marks are used for quotations, when single quotation marks are used for quotations within quotations, with the single quotation marks on the outside and the double in the inside. Although the appearance is improved by using the more obstructive double quotations marks for the less frequent quotations within quotations.
What are guillemets or angle quotes? When could you use small caps?
Guillements or angle quotes are the characters used in some European languages to indicate quotations ( «» ). You could use small caps in abbreviations since these in capitals are often too obtrusive and interfere with the flow of the line, also could be used in running headers or details.
What is the difference between lining and non-lining figures?
The difference between these is that lining figures are all the same height, normally set to a constant body, so they can be used as figures in tables, graphs or diagrams; while, non-lining figures, by contrast, have individual widths.
What is leading?
Leading is the linespacing or interlinear space. The distance between two lines in a text.
How many successive word-breaks under each other are allowed?
There should not be more than three successive word-breaks ender each other at the ends of lines. However, if the only way to obey this rule is to remake the page with large gaps in one or more lines, this would be worse for both the appearance and the readability of the text then more than three successive word-breaks.
What are “rivers”? What is an indent?
Vertical ‘rivers’ of white space occur when the word spaces in several lines fall exactly, or almost exactly, under one another. These should be avoided as they disrupt the flow of the text.
An indent is the start of a line or position of a block of text further from the margin than the main part of the text. This is used to make long texts comfortable to read.