Re: Typographic Literacy

Subject: Re: Typographic Literacy
From: Robert Plamondon <robert -at- PLAMONDON -dot- COM>
Date: Sat, 15 Apr 1995 09:13:49 PDT

For the last 250 years or so, the rule has been, "When in doubt,
use Caslon." Oldstyle book fonts, like the Caslons, Garamonds, Goudy
Oldstyle, and Adobe Sabon, aren't as cold and mechanical as Times
Roman, and (in the opinion of many) are far more attractive and
elegant, without being too showy -- all are in common use as
the main fonts in books.

Intentionally using colorless, mechanical, soulless fonts like
Times Roman and Helvetica for technical manuals is, in my mind,
inappropriate. It emphasizes all the wrong things; it's like
dressing used car salesmen in loud plaids, or having a talking
Barbie that says, "Math is hard." Manuals are forbidding enough
as it is.

-- Robert
--
Robert Plamondon * Writer * robert -at- plamondon -dot- com * (408) 321-8771
4271 North First Street, #106 * San Jose * California * 95134-1215
"Writing is like plumbing -- even people who know how to do it will
pay top dollar to keep their hands clean."


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