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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Location
    San Diego, California
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    387

    Default Re: simple rules for good typography

    <rant>

    I had the 'reverse-text' rule pounded into me by a very nasty Art Director, Helmut Krone, when I started doing commercial art at DDB in the 'sixties. Worked on VW brochures, Avis collateral. He, and then I, were true believers in Bill Bernbach's advertising philosophy, which went along the lines of “The purpose of advertising is to sell. That is what the client is paying for and if that goal does not permeate every idea you get, every word you write, every picture you take, you are a phony and you ought to get out of the business.” And from that, if the body text is hard to read, they are off your ad and onto the next page.

    We went, back then, on what seemed to make common sense. Not on research, not on focus groups. It is quite possible that research could show that reversed-body-text is as readable as not. But it isn't for me, and I doubt that it is for you.

    Headlines are different, of course. But what I'm trying to get across here is that the ad isn't about the graphics; it is about the product and getting the reader to actually show up at the point of sale. Two more Bernbach quotes for you --

    “Is creativity some obscure, esoteric art form? Not on your life. It’s the most practical thing a businessman can employ.”

    But --

    “Merely to let your imagination run riot, to dream unrelated dreams, to indulge in graphic acrobatics and verbal gymnastics in NOT being creative. The creative person had harnessed his imagination. He has disciplined it so that every thought, every idea, every word he puts down, every line he draws, every light and shadow in every photograph he takes, makes more vivid, more believable, more persuasive the original theme or product advantage he has decided he must convey.”

    Much later, ran my own business for 15 years. Ads, brochures, web, PR. I believed (and still do) that sales are the lifeblood of any business, and everything else, like finance, marketing, or HR, is just the icing on the cake. Back then, if I made an ad, a brochure, or a webpage for you, it helped increase your sales. It helped you get more qualified customers. The results were measurable, and our transaction was simple: you remained my customer as long as your increased sales justified my expense. And there was no way I going to screw that up with reversed-body-text in your next ad!

    </end rant>

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2002
    Location
    Liverpool, N.Y.
    Posts
    6,090

    Default Re: simple rules for good typography

    Hi Jon—

    I don’t know why I skipped over a passage in your original post, but I must apologize: for body text, it’s folly to try reversing it out and maintaining legibility (so the potential customer can read it). For both human and Production reasons, you just can’t cast 12pt. Times in white against a dark background and read the thing, or maintain the serifs that make the font what it is (because of the trapping, or if no trapping, the bleed). Headline text, yeah. Body copy=nope.

    I’d like to keep Frances’ thread open to non-advertising people, too (), so I submit that 10pt. and up sans serif text, white against a dark background on web pages is readable, whether it’s a blog or an advertisement. Sans serif fonts can be read more quickly onscreen than serifs (studies support this), and if everyone ran a black website with light or white text, we’re reduce power consumption to a significant extent, lighting up far fewer areas on users’ screens.

    My Best,

    Gary
    Last edited by Gare; 07 May 2012 at 11:50 AM.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Location
    San Diego, California
    Posts
    387

    Default Re: simple rules for good typography

    Yes -- I'd go with some (but not too much) bold or demi-bold light text on a dark background -- for, as Frances said, to catch attention. And, as you mention, to reduce power consumption. Seriously! Last September, the lights went out bigtime here in San Diego one evening. We drove up the coast, town after town, and finally found a bar in San Clemente that had a generator, about 500 thirsty Marines, and my wife and I. This shocking situation, 'retired couple drives 50 miles to get a drink', would NEVER have happened had our area's graphic artists used white or lime-green bold sans-serif fonts on power-saving black backgrounds...

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    ...Granada province, Andalucia, Spain
    Posts
    5,302

    Default Re: simple rules for good typography

    Quote Originally Posted by jon404 View Post
    This shocking situation, 'retired couple drives 50 miles to get a drink', would NEVER have happened had our area's graphic artists used white or lime-green bold sans-serif fonts on power-saving black backgrounds...
    ...and we'd all be wearing spectacles with lenses the thickness of Coke bottles.
    Bob.
    ** Detailed "Create A Spinning Logo Tutorial" is available in .pdf format for download at this link **
    Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read. Groucho Marx.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Oct 2002
    Location
    Liverpool, N.Y.
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    Default Re: simple rules for good typography

    I'd advise both of you to leave your joking about power consumption at that.

    Yeah, it might sound funny to design a website with a black background and light text to save energy.

    What about ten million websites? You think that might make a difference?

    Did we have data centers and render farms of the size and power footprint we did even ten years ago?

    Fortunately, I guess, none of us will be alive when something goes critical with our Earth, because we scoffed at the act of one individual decades before.

    It's the cumulative effect of everyone doing something, guys, like littering.

    -g-

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    ...Granada province, Andalucia, Spain
    Posts
    5,302

    Default Re: simple rules for good typography

    Lighten up, Gare. Not that I disagree with the thrust of your argument at all, but light text on black is bad for one's eyes, that's the point I'm making, rather than scoffing at energy-saving ideas. I like to think that my family have a lower carbon footprint than most. Sorry to take the thread even further off topic.
    Bob. (edit): Your double line spacing above adds more white space to the page, by the way.
    B.
    Last edited by iamtheblues; 11 May 2012 at 12:15 PM. Reason: addendum
    ** Detailed "Create A Spinning Logo Tutorial" is available in .pdf format for download at this link **
    Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read. Groucho Marx.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Sunshine Coast BC, Canada. In a beautiful part of BC's temperate rainforest
    Posts
    9,864

    Default Re: simple rules for good typography

    Getting back on topic I have another rule I'd like to discuss. Don't use underlines to emphasize. IMO it is much cleaner and legible to use italics and/or bold to emphasize something.

    thoughts?
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
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