Faster than a speeding bullet, more versatile than an ordinary typeface – it’s the typographic super family! These comprehensive and innovative groupings of related designs offer a great way to combine typefaces without risking an over-designed look.

Digital typesetting has revolutionized the way designers work. It’s quick, it’s convenient, it’s customizable. But occasionally, it throws a mysterious curve ball into your text.

Like a rim shot after the punch line of a joke, the end mark at the close of an article, chapter, or story lets you know it’s all over. Learn what they are, where to find them, and where to put them.

Are your characters depressed? When punctuation marks are positioned next to ALL CAPS, it can leave them looking a little low. Even making small adjustments in a character’s position will create greater visual balance and give your layout a “lift,” e.

Can you find the fractions on your keyboard? If not, you’re not alone. Believe it or not, there are no designated keystrokes for fractions on a Mac. PCs offer a few (1/4, 1/2, 3/4), but they’re so well-hidden most users can’t find them anyway. Yet fractions appear fairly often in copy, so what’s a person to do?

Footnote: those little words at the bottom of the page, often (but not exclusively) seen in scholarly writing, that every designer should learn to set with legibility and economy. Following these basic guidelines will keep footnotes and endnotes clear.

Sometimes you want your type to get straight to the point, but other times it’s nice to take a few turns along the way. Try these tips for for setting type along a curved baseline while keeping it readable and evenly spaced.

Albertina was a typeface ahead of its time. It was in the early 1960s when designer Chris Brand, an accomplished calligrapher, aspired to draw a typeface based on the principles of calligraphy. Unfortunately, typesetting machines of that era put many restrictions on designers. Characters had to be drawn within a very coarse grid, which also defined their spacing.

Almost everyone who uses a computer can identify Zapf Chancery. Alphabetically, it’s at the very bottom of the font directory – but as a system font on both Apple and Windows operating systems, it’s frequently top of mind in the calligraphy-inspired class.