Common Typographic Pitfalls

(By Ross Collins, Professor of Communication, North Dakota State University)

1. Same font for body text and headlines.

• Choose from different type families.

2. Poor spacing, particularly in justified text.

• Adjust justification or tracking to avoid white space.

3. Typewriter habits.

• Rabbit-ear quotes, two spaces after each sentence, two hyphens for an em-dash, hyphen instead of en-dash for time period designations. For substitutions, choose from the keystroke options below (for Macintosh).
  
  • Double typographer's quotes, open quote (dot at bottom): Option-[
  • Double typographer's quotes, close quote (dot at top): Option-Shift-[
  • Single typographer's quotes, or contractions ('70s) open quote (dot at bottom): Option-Shift-]
  • Single typographer's quotes, close quote (dot at top): Option-]
  • Bullets: Option-8
  • Em-dash: Shift-Option-[hyphen key]
  • En-dash: Option-[hyphen key]
  • Manual hyphen: Apple-Shift-hyphen

4. Default leading.

• Choose leading to better match personality of publication.

5. Two spaces after every sentence.

• This is a typewriter habit that somehow has made it into the 21st century. If an article is submitted this way, you'll have to do a Find and Replace to remove them, with the exception of two spaces after a colon. Note also we have no space before or after an em-dash.

6. Widows and orphans.

• Avoid single words at the top or bottom of a column.

7. Single quote marks, punctuation outside quote marks (except colon and semicolon).

• Note British style does have punctuation outside quote marks in some cases, and uses single quotes.

8. Inconsistent styles within publication.

• Same typeface, alignment, leading for all cutlines, body text, headlines.

9. Overused fonts (such as times, times roman).

10. Font doesn't fit style of publication:

• roman: dignified, graceful, austere, voice of authority.
• sans serif: contemporary and efficient, informal.
• Egyptian/slab serif: loud, persistent, shouts (less so as body text).
• specialty faces (script, blackletter, decorative): use seldom.

Return to COMM 362 class resources.

Return to COMM 313 class resources.