The Ten Commandments of Typography/Type Heresy - Breaking the Ten Commandments of Typography

A good, quick and interesting read by Paul Fenton.

On one side, you will find 'The Ten Commandments of Typography' along with a list of the 'Twelve Disciples of Typography', amongst them the likes of Herbert Bayer of 'Universal' typeface fame and Lazar El Lissitzky of this fame;

                               Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge

... which after you have read this book, you realise he should kinda be on the other side...

'Breaking the Ten Commandments of Typography' - Which lists David Carson as Satan and Edward Fella, Neville Brody and Phil Baines as 'Fallen Angels'.

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.

II. Thou shalt lay headlines large and at the top of the page.

Raise the headline to a windy height, roar out your 

summons, and beckon with considerable type size.

III. Thou shalt not employ any other type size than 8pt to 10pt for body copy.

The Lord shall not leave unpunished he who 

disregards this rule.

IV. Remember that a typeface that is not legible is not truly a typeface.

The dingbats and disordered fuse fonts that 

foundries hold sacred are all worthless, and 

cursed are all who make them their delight.

V. Honour thy kerning, so that white space becomes visually equalized between characters.

Kerning will save the reader time in deciphering writings.

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.

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.

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.

IX. Thou shalt use flush-left , ragged-right type alignment.

Renounce the use of other alignments,

for they bring extra torment upon 

already busy eyes.

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.