Some lawyers must really like the use of emphasis in a brief. Comic sans might sit well with kids but not lawyers. He makes some effective arguments as to why typography is more than just font choice why it is a design choice that will affect how a lawyers audience will react to the text itself. Matthew buttericks typography for lawyers is a book about legal typography. Typography for lawyers marquette university law school faculty. The distinction between and typeface and a font is rooted in the long history of printing. Yet despite all the tools and knowledge available to us, we readily embrace a flourishing, decorative typography, with cheap tricks used in a misguided attempt to make it pop. Originally released to great acclaim in 2010, typography for lawyers was the first guide to the essentials of typography aimed specifically at lawyers. Appendix how to interpret court rules printers and paper how to make a pdf bibliography underlining goofy fonts. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great streetsweeper who did his job well.
So, as a web designer, it makes sense to have a strong understanding of typography. Like good writing, good typography isnt determined by elements in isolation but by the relationship of those elements and the effect of the whole so far weve looked at typographic rules individually. Good typography shouldnt have to rely on ornamental crutches to stand tall. Typography for lawyers explains how to maximize the impact of what you write in pleadings, briefs, correspondence, billing and even email.
Typography for lawyers by matthew butterick 445 ratings, 4. Typography if a man is called a streetsweeper, he should sweep streets even as michelangelo painted, or beethoven composed music, or shakespeare wrote poetry. An extensible system for animating expressive text johnny c. Author matthew butterick, an attorney and harvardtrained typographer, dispelled the myth that legal documents are incompatible with excellent typography. Typography guidelines and references smashing magazine. In a traditional metal font, the em was the vertical distance from the top of a piece of type to the bottom. The most basic component of typography is the letter, and each letter of the alphabet is distinguished by its unique shape, or letterform. Nov 16, 2015 typography for lawyers is the reminder that the presentation also matters. Typography for lawyers butterick bends his own rules in the name of typographic eclecticism. The arrangement of design elements within a given structure should allow the reader to easily focus on the message, without slowing down the speed of his reading. I bought a new book called typography for lawyers, by matthew butterick. Based on an unscientific survey of the pdfs ive gotten from lawyers, just about all of you are doing it the wrong way.
Especially for dense, complex, challenging documents like legal material, the watchwords are legibility and ease of reading. Jan 16, 2014 some lawyers must really like the use of emphasis in a brief. In reality, typography is quite complicated and is as much science as it is art. Five secret typography tips for lawyers legal writing pro. The supreme court of arkansas likes garamond, and the first and fourth circuit use courier. Pdfs are especially painful if you have good, wellwritten content because its often impossible to r. For example, if you need a space of two points between lines of text, you have to add that to the point size of the text and specify leading. Its great for making digital versions of works originally designed for print. Correct use of color, typography, placement and graphics can make a huge difference in the look of your website.
Wordperfect fonts fonts fonts emphasis emphasis emphasis typographical conventions gutenberg v. Molly barker gilligan, a font of information, the philadelphia lawyer fall 2011 im a huge fan of matthew buttericks typography for lawyers, which has helped me make big improvements to my personal and professional documents and websites. Back then, the only way a typewriter could white out a letter was if every letter was the same size. Hudson human computer interaction institute and school of design carnegie mellon university, pittsburgh, pa 152 usa johnny, forlizzi, scott. The examples they give for these fonts, however, are limited. Hes the guy who sets the standards for document design in law ofices. Hyphenation also allows more words to fit in a line. Its no wonder, then, that i adore typography for lawyers.
Typography is in this respect, the most important element in the online newspapers graphic design as it is the art of situating typefaces on a twodimensional surface. Jan 17, 2017 the supreme court of arkansas likes garamond, and the first and fourth circuit use courier. How this book was made buttericks practical typography. Typography for lawyers is the reminder that the presentation also matters.
Itll make our committee work so much more pleasant when were exchanging drafts. See more ideas about graphic design, design and typography. Hudson human computer interaction institute and school of design carnegie mellon university. Honestly, though, how useful the book is depends on your practice. An experiment conducted by kevin larson and rosalind picard looked at how typography affects mood and performance of the readers. If the typography makes the informa tion on the page harder to read, it does not matter how pretty a page lay out is or how unique a font selection is, the page has failed in its main. Typography basics typography is twodimensional architecture, based on experience and imagination, and guided by rules and readability. If you believe typography matters visually, historically, culturally consider it your duty to help make sure it doesnt get washed away by declining. If you have a commercial version of adobe acrobat not just the. I just started reading it on the plane and i think it is brilliant. Pdf typography and its significant to memorizing a logo. The book begins with a foreword by bryan garner, who claims if matthew butterick didnt exist, it would be necessary to invent him.
What is the best format to publish a digital typography. If youre unfamiliar with its concepts, you might think that typography must be a fairly simple discipline. Sample of equity printed on a letterpress fonts are only one ingredient of typography. In every piece of type you see, somebody has considered how the letters, sentences and paragraphs will look in order for it to be read by us, or make us feel a certain way when we look at it. Word processing for the criminal defense lawyer m uch of what i reveal below but certainly not all could be gleaned from within local help screens or online help provided by the software companies. For text composition, leading is also specified in points. Its a nicely puttogether site by a lawyer who has an art degree from harvard and was a type designer before law school i know what youre thinking typography i set the word processor for times new roman and forget it. Then, it shows how lawyers can easily bring some of the best typographical practices into their workflows. This work does not pretend to replace those resources. Mac os in the applications folder, launch font book. Vector of geometric alphabet letters, colorful triangle letter. Based on an unscientific survey of the pdfs ive gotten from law yers, just about all of you are doing it the wrong way.
The seventh circuit has a sevenpage guide to typography for those wanting to take a deeper dive. Typography is the visual aspect of the written word. Sadly, the site correctly points out that one does not really have much leeway when it comes. With that in mind, we rounded up some free ebooks that should help. Typography in appellate briefs the florida appellate.
Matthew buttericks typography for lawyers is a book about legal typography that every person serious about good legal writing should own. Tag best fonts for lawyers open law lab law by design. Ive been enjoying the site typography for lawyers from matthew butterick. This refined, industrial type family is well suited for short amounts of text, headlines, corporate identity and logo design. Subscribe and get breaking news, commentary, and opinions on law firms, lawyers, law schools, lawsuits, judges, and more. Also, know that typography is very important to create a mood and feeling around the content. Words and text are all around us every day in almost everything we do. Typography in legal documents should be held to the same standards as. My legalwriting teacher in law school required memos to be formatted using classic typewriter habitsoneinch margins on. Butterick points out that most courts have minimum requirements for filings, not strict rules.
And messing around with the font menu on your computer isnt a substitute for knowing the fundamentals of type composition and text formatting. Designing superior legal documents matthew butterick butterick law 5419 hollywood blvd. Scroll down to learn about typography for lawyers, the afghanistan legal education project, exploring constitutional law, and loislaw. Through its many examples, typography for lawyers manages to show that good typesetting is a powerful tool for retaining a readers attention and getting the message through. Typography is an art form that has been around for hundreds of years.
It can also be described as the practice of configuring type text for use in print or on the web. Thats why this chapter appears in the middle of the book, not the beginning. Windows install a printer driver that outputs pdfs instead of sending a file to a physical printer. Which fonts are recommended for lawyers in agreements. Typography for lawyers the website and book he designed o. I hope it will spur you to think about how you can bring new recruits into the typography army. Anatomy of letterforms understanding the fundamental principles and concepts of typography is the. The problems that afflict research memos also afflict other long documents like transaction agreements and contracts. Review of matthew buttericks typography for lawyers part 1.
Fonts are not programs, like your word processor or web browser. I came across a website called typography for lawyers, that, you guessed it, is about typography in legal documents. Sans serif fonts like arial and calibri may look more modern and classy, but serif faces are clearer and less ambiguous. Often on every page, and sometimes for a paragraph or more. Currently, the rules say you can use either proportional or nonproportional fonts. For natively digital works, it imposes unnecessary complexity and limitations. Effect on mood and cognitive performance of readers. Document processing for the criminal defense lawyer mark j. Buttericks typography for lawyers guides you through everything from which font to use to the size of the margins. Alternatively, you could look to fellow lawyers as a guide. Review of matthew buttericks typography for lawyers state bar of. Typography for lawyers wasnt written for designers, but to those designers who read it. The legal typeface family grew out a sans serif project that hellmut g. Typography for lawyers is an easy read that runs only 210 pages.