The

Ten

Commandments
of

Typography

..................................................................

Words by Paul Felton

Designed by Renee Rolewicz

Dedication
..................................................................

I sometimes think that good readers are poets as

singular, and as awesome, as great authors themselves...
Reading, meanwhile, is an activity subsequent to
writing-more resigned, more civil, more intellectual.
Jorge Borges, Buenos Aires, 1935

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The Ten Commandments of Typography

Preface
..................................................................
The Commandments are a rock where you can find safety.
When designing, call on the mighty laws and you shall be
delivered from any problems. When the bonds of Barnbrook
tighten around the Lords words, Happy is the man who
does not take the wicked for his guide, nor walk the road
that the sinners tread. Why are designers in such turmoil?
Why do typographers hatch their evil plots? The modern
kings of graphic design, Frost, Keedy, VanderLans, stand
ready and conspire together against the Lord and His rules.
"Let us break their fetters!" they cry. "Let us disregard
legibility!" But when judgement comes on their work, their
wicked will not stand firm. The Lord watches over the
world of design and typography and guides the way of the
righteous, but the way of the wicked is for ever doomed.
God speaks thus to the wicked typographers;
What right have you to recite my rules and make so free
with the words of my holy alphabet, you who hate correction
and turn your back on my laws when designing? If you
meet illegibility, you choose it as your friend, you make
common cause with the unstructured, you charge your
design with chaos and harness your type to disarray. You
are forever thinking against the rules, stabbing the very
constitution in the back. But pixel by pixel I will rebuke
your design to your face. Think on this, you who forget
God and His mighty laws.

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Paul Felton

The Ten Commandments of Typography

Contents
..................................................................

Preface
v

Introduction
ix

Matthew Carter
xi

ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE COMMANDMENTS

I. Magazine Layout, New York Times magazine layout
p.13

II. Newspaper Layout, Chicago Tribune

p.15

III. Mrs. Eaves

p.17

IV. Poster, Contemporary Musician

p.19

V. Signage
p.21

VI. Three Statements

p.23

VII. Robert Kennedy Memorial

p.25

VIII. Agamemnon Quote

p.27

IX. Lincoln Address

p.29

X. Lines not too short or too long

p. 31

Introduction
..................................................................

In the beginning God created type and the world was

without form, and void, and darkness was upon the face of
legibility. God said, Let there be ten rules to govern the
use of type, and there came structure, order, and legibility,
and God saw that this was good. But type could not exist
without man, so God created man. From His race of men
He chose twelve of the worthy to be his type disciples and
to spread the laws of typography to others. The Lord then
spoke to His disciples and gave them ten rules by which
every typographer must abide, to gain passage to type
Heaven. The laws helped typographers and designers
produce endless amounts of beautiful work. They became
known as The Ten Commandments of Typography.

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Paul Felton

The Ten Commandments of Typography

Matthew Carter

On Typography

..................................................................
How important do you think the main typographic rules
are, should they always be followed?
The advantage of rules is that they can prevent mistakes; the
disadvantage is that they can prevent discoveries. When I
started work in a type foundry fifty years ago my efforts
as a learner consisted entirely of mistakes. This was pretty
discouraging, but an experience workman told me, Always
look carefully at a mistake before you discard it- it might
be better than you intended. I think theres more to the
design process than simple trial and error, but errors are
often the price paid for successful trials, rules learned by rote
are valuable only if they are constantly questioned.

..................................................................
As someone who is predominately a type designer, are you
often saddened to see your typefaces used in the wrong
context or applied badly?
I may be more forgiving about this than many type
designers: I reckon I might as well accept what I cant police.
Overall, the experience of seeing my typefaces in use has
been a good and encouraging one, but there are obviously
examples from time to time of a typeface being put in a
situation where it has to fail, and thats annoying. On the
other hand, type designers learn from seeing their work in
use out there in the world. When a typeface is put through
the paces in exactly the way its designer intended, that can
be very rewarding, but its not particularly informative.
Seeing it used in an unexpected way- good or bad- can be a
much more revealing lesson.
From a mail to Paul Felton

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Paul Felton

The Ten Commandments of Typography

I. Thou shalt not apply more than three

typefaces in a document.

..................................................................

..................................................................

Always remember that simplicity reigns over

the disarray and confusion that the use of many
typefaces causes.

In the beginning God created type.

HEADLINE - BAUER BODONI BOLD, 14 PT.

And the world was without form, and void.

SUBHEADER - AMAZONE, 11 PT.

And the darkness was upon the face of legibility. God said,
Let there be ten rules to govern the use of type:, and there
came structure, order and legibility, and God saw that this
was good.
BODY TEXT - GARAMOND ROMAN, 8PT

New York Times Magazine Article

Demonstration of using only three tyoefaces.
Renee Rolewicz, Chicago, 2013

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Paul Felton

The Ten Commandments of Typography

II. Thou shalt lay headlines large and at

the top of a page.

..................................................................

Raise the headline to a windy height, roar out your

summons, and beckon with considerable type size.

In the beginning

God created type

HEADLINE - BAUR BODONI BOLD, 20PT AND 26PT

In the beginning God created type. And the world was

without form, and void, and darkness was upon the face
of legibility. God said, Let there be ten rules to govern
the use of type, and God saw that this was good.

Chicago Tribune Newspaper Layout

Demonstration of newspaper layout using
proper headlines.

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Paul Felton

Renee Rolewicz, Chicago, 2013

III. Thou shalt employ no other type size

that 8pt to 10pt for body copy.

..................................................................

..................................................................

The Lord will not leave unpunished he who

disregards this rule.

In the beginning God created type. And the world was

without form, and void, and darkness was upon the face of
legibility. God said, Let there be ten rules to govern the
use of type, and there came structure, order and legibility,
and God saw that this was good.
GARAMOND ROMAN, 8PT WITH 11PT LEADING

In the beginning God created type. And the world

was without form, and void, and darkness was upon
the face of legibility. God said, Let there be ten
rules to govern the use of type, and there came
structure, order and legibility, and God saw that this
was good.
GARAMOND ROMAN, 9PT WITH 12PT LEADING

In the beginning God created type. And

the world was without form, and void, and
darkness was upon the face of legibility. God
said, Let there be ten rules to govern the use
of type, and there came structure, order and
legibility, and God saw that this was good.
GARAMOND ROMAN, 10PT WITH 13PT LEADING
A Letter to Mrs. Eaves
Demonstration of employing correct type size.

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Renee Rolewicz, Chicago, 2013

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The Ten Commandments of Typography

IV. Remember that a typeface that is not

legible is not truly a typeface.
..................................................................

..................................................................

The dingbats and the disordered fuse fonts that

foundries hold sacred are all worthless, and cursed
are all who make them their delight.

Poster of Contemporary Musicin: You

Me At Six
Demonstration of the sin of illegibility.
Renee Rolewicz, Chicago, 2013

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Paul Felton

The Ten Commandments of Typography

V. Honour thy kerning, so that white space

becomes visually equalized between characters.

..................................................................

Kerning will save the reader time in

deciphering writings.

..................................................................

Armitage
+20

Jn Si og

WITHOUT KERNING

Jn Si og
WITH KERNING

-20

+20 -20

-20

Sedgwick
Chicago
-20
-20

-20

Armitage
Sedgwick
Chicago
AFTER MANUAL KERNING

Signage
Demonstration of correct kerning of Chicago
L stop signs.

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Renee Rolewicz, Chicago, 2013

1600N
400W

-20 -20

-20

-20

2000N
1000W

21

The Ten Commandments of Typography

800N
300W

VI. Thou shalt lay stress discreetly

upon elements within text.

..................................................................

The glory of God is to keep things hidden, but the glory

of the foolish typographer is to over-emphasize them.

..................................................................

A typographic hierarchy expresses an organizational system

for content, emphasizing some data and diminishing others.
A hierarchy helps readers scan a text, knowing where to enter
and exit and how to pick and choose among its offerings. Each
level of the hierarchy should be signaled by one or more cues,
applied consistently across a body of text. A cue can be spatial
(indent, line spacing, placement on page) or graphic (size,
style, color of typeface). Infinite variations are possible.
FONT WEIGHT

A typographic hierarchy expresses an organizational system

for content, emphasizing some data and diminishing others.
A hierarchy helps readers scan a text, knowing where to enter
and exit and how to pick and choose among its offerings. Each
level of the hierarchy should be signaled by one or more cues,
applied consistently across a body of text. A cue can be spatial
(indent, line spacing, placement on page) or graphic (size, style,
color of typeface). Infinite variations are possible.

A typographic hierarchy expresses an organizational system

for content, emphasizing some data and diminishing others.
A hierarchy helps readers scan a text, knowing where to enter
and exit and how to pick and choose among its offerings. Each
level of the hierarchy should be signaled by one or more cues,
applied consistently across a body of text. A cue can be spatial
(indent, line spacing, placement on page) or graphic (size, style,
color of typeface). Infinite variations are possible.

ITALICS

ITALICS AND FONT WEIGHT

Three Statements
Demonstration of emphasizing and laying
stress on specific elements.

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Renee Rolewicz, Chicago, 2013

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The Ten Commandments of Typography

VII. Thou shalt not use only

capitals when setting vast body copy.
..................................................................

Let thine eyes be fixed on the ascenders, bowls and

finials of lowercase type.

In the beginning God created type. And the world was

without form, and void, and darkness was upon the face of
legibility. God said, Let there be ten rules to govern the use
of type, and there came structure, order and legibility, and
God saw that this was good.

IN THE BEGINNING GOD CREATED TYPE. AND THE

WORLD WAS WITHOUT FORM, AND VOID, AND
DARKNESS WAS UPON THE FACE OF LEGIBILITY.
GOD SAID, LET THERE BE TEN RULES TO GOVERN
THE USE OF TYPE, AND THERE CAME STRUCTURE,
ORDER AND LEGIBILITY, AND GOD SAW THAT
THIS WAS GOOD.
UPPERCASE TEXT
Robert Kennedy Memorial
Demonstration of using all capital letters in a
vast amount of body copy.
Renee Rolewicz, Chicago, 2013

Paul Felton

It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief

that human history is shaped each time a man stands
up for an ideal or acts to improve the lot of others,
or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny
ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million
different centers of energy and daring those ripples
build a current that can sweep down the mightiest of
wall of oppression and resistance.
-Robert Kennedy, South Africa 1966
UPPERCASE AND LOWERCASE TEXT

UPPERCASE AND LOWERCASE TEXT

24

..................................................................

IT IS FROM NUMBERLESS DIVERSE ACTS OF

COURAGE AND BELIEF THAT HUMAN HISTORY IS
SHAPED EACH TIME A MAN STANDS UP FOR AN
IDEAL OR ACTS TO IMPROVE THE LOT OF OTHERS,
OR STRIKES OUT AGAINST INJUSTICE, HE SENDS
FORTH A TINY RIPPLE OF HOPE, AND CROSSING
EACH OTHER FROM A MILLION DIFFERENT
CENTERS OF ENERGY AND DARING THOSE RIPPLES
BUILD A CURRENT THAT CAN SWEEP DOWN
THE MIGHTIEST OF WALL OF OPPRESSION AND
RESISTANCE.
-ROBERT KENNEDY, SOUTH AFRICA 1966
UPPERCASE TEXT

VIII. Thou shalt always align letters

and words on a baseline.

..................................................................

The Lord designed letterforms to coexist side by

side on an invisible line, so thou shalt give them a
straight path to follow.

In our sleep,
f

pain
a

..................................................................

In our sleep,

which cannot forget

f alls

which cannot forget

pain

p
by

drop by drop
upon the heart until,

p
upon the heart

until,
in our despair,
against our will,

comes wisdom
through the awful
grace of God.

Agamemnon Quote

in our

d e s p a i r,

against our w i l l ,
comes w i s d o m

through the awful grace

of

God.

Demonstration of poetically aligning words on

various baselines.

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Renee Rolewicz, Chicago, 2013

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The Ten Commandments of Typography

IX. Thou shalt use flush-left, raggedright type alignment.

..................................................................

..................................................................

Renounce the use of other alignments, for they bring

extra torment upon already busy eyes.

We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion
may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic
chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot gave to
every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell
the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the
better angels of our nature.
-Abraham Lincoln, First Inagural Address 1861
-FLUSH-LEFT, RAGGED-RIGHT TEXT

We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may
have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of
memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot gave to every living heart
and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union,
when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.
- Abraham
Lincoln ,
F i rst
In ag u r a l
Ad d re ss
1861
JUSTIFIED TEXT

We are not enemies , but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion
may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic
chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot gave to
every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell
the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the
better angels of our nature.
-Abraham Lincoln, First Inagural Address 1861

We are not the enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though
passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. They
mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot
gave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet
swell and the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will
be, by the better angels of our nature.
-Abraham Lincoln, First Inagural Address 1861

FLUSH-RIGHT, RAGGED-LEFT TEXT

CENTERED TEXT

Lincoln Address
Demonstration of using various type
alignments with your body copy.

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Renee Rolewicz, Chicago, 2013

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The Ten Commandments of Typography

X. Thou shalt not make lines too

short or too long.

..................................................................

..................................................................

I command you to trust in an utmost of seventy

characters per line, while a minimum of forty shall
suffice.

If you want to build a ship dont drum

up people to collect wood and dont
assign them tasks and work but rather
teach them to long for the endless
immensity of the sea.
-Antoine Saint-Exupry

If you want to
build a ship
dont drum
up people to
collect wood
and dont
assign them
tasks and work
but rather
teach them
to long for
the endless
immensity of
the sea.
-Antoine SaintExupry

TEXT JUST RIGHT

If you want to build a ship dont drum up people to collect wood and dont assign them
tasks and work but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.
-Antoine Saint-Exupry
TEXT TOO LONG

TEXT TOO SHORT

Lines Not Too Short or Too Long

Demonstration of setting 40-70 characters long
in three versions.
Renee Rolewicz, Chicago, 2013

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The Ten Commandments of Typography