Typography for Lawyers

After my typography post yesterday two funny things happened. My friend Amy sent me a link to Typography for Lawyers on Twitter, and Al, a former Lawyer, asked if there was anywhere he could learn more about typography. Look everyone. Synergy.

Check it out, you don’t have to be a lawyer to learn about typography from this website…

It’s full of handy advice.

Like this:

“Typography matters because it helps conserve the most valuable resource you have as a writer — reader attention.
Writing as if you have unlimited reader attention is presumptuous because readers are not doing you a personal favor. Reading your writ­ing is not their hobby. It’s their job. And their job involves paying attention to lots of other writing.”

“It’s the same on the printed page. The text matters, but if that’s all that mattered, then everything could be set in 12-point Times New Roman. And that would be the equivalent of staring at the lectern. In the same way that good speaking skills matter during an oral argu­ment, good typography matters in a written document.”

“Good typography is measured on a utilitarian yard stick. Typography that is aesthetically pleasant, but that doesn’t reinforce the goals of the text, is a failure. Typography that rein forces the goals of the text, even if aesthetically unpleasant, is a success.”

And because it’s for lawyers he’s got a bunch of practical tips too.

Here’s his take on mixing fonts…