ARTS against typography crimes
Following prolonged counselling with my therapist, I have decided to form ARTS: the Association for the Restoration of Typographical Standards. Membership is open to kindred spirits who deplore the advanced state of decay in contemporary typographical design and composition, such as 'outraged of Oxford' or 'affronted of Accrington'.
ARTS will seek a return to:
- Literally accurate texts
- Closely and evenly spaced lines
- Correctly divided words
- Proper (rather than simulated) small capital letters
- Restrained and legible typefaces instead of the quirky and hideous
- Disciplined use of colour
- Thoughtfully and logically disposed white space
- Chaste mixes of typefaces with greater reliance on design families
- Reduced use of PostScript effects, such as tints, blends, drop shadows and other horrors
- Consistency of style in composition
- Proscription of underlining to indicate emphasis
- Restoration of old style figures where appropriate
- Snugly composed initial letters
- Banishment of widow lines
- Correct deployment of abused punctuation points such as the apostrophe and hyphen
- Revival of ligatures
- Careful apportionment of page margins for better readability
- An overriding determination to present words in an unambiguous manner, helpful to readers
Lawrence Wallis held international pre-press marketing positions and was a respected author and print historian.
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