Let’s Get in Style, Part I
Compare a law review article to a magazine article. Go get one of each, set the two side by side, and examine the copy.
Among the differences between the two is this: the spaces between the words in the magazine article are much more uniform.
Does that matter?
Yes, it does.
One of the things we’ll be discussing (comments are welcome) in this blog is how to set copy in good style. If you’re an attorney and you care about style, you’ll be very interested in this discussion.
Is appearance important?
You bet it is.
Click this link to see a page from a famous book, a book set by a famous typesetter — Johannes Gutenberg.
Notice the uniformity of the spaces between the words in Gutenberg’s Bible. Unlike a modern law review article, the space at the end of a sentence is no greater than the space between two words.
The Gutenberg Bible is set in good style. The law review article is not.
Now . . . if you suppose the average attorney knows how to set type better than the most famous typesetter, find another blog. This one is going to be a waste of your time. But if want your copy to look sharp, stick around. We’re going to look at some ways to make that happen.
