Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!iuvax!uxc!uxc.cso.uiuc.edu!m.cs.uiuc.edu!calhoun From: calhoun@m.cs.uiuc.edu Newsgroups: comp.text.desktop Subject: Re: Typography--Was Re: ventura Message-ID: <34400002@m.cs.uiuc.edu> Date: 26 May 89 15:26:00 GMT References: <32118@sri-unix.SRI.COM> Lines: 40 Nf-ID: #R:sri-unix.SRI.COM:32118:m.cs.uiuc.edu:34400002:000:1796 Nf-From: m.cs.uiuc.edu!calhoun May 26 10:26:00 1989 > /* ---------- "Typography--Was Re: ventura" ---------- */ > Remember also that books used to be designed by professional designers, > who knew their trade. Are you a professional book designer? Do you know > the optimal proportions of type point size, line length, interline spacing, > marginal white space, intercolumn space, etc? Do you know which > combinations of heading font and text font work well together? > If you don't, and want to do your own publishing (composition), > you'd better get educated. Find some good references on typograpy. > > I'm sorry if I sound testy. It's just that I'm a publications > professional, an editor, and I'm awfully tired of engineers who > think they know as much as I do about publication design. > I don't try to design circuits or write programs; why do they think > they can design publications? > > Valerie Maslak Your points about desktop puiblishing are well taken. However, as a former textbook typesetter, I've seen some pretty UGLY specs generated by your "professional designers". I have a hard time believing that I could do worse than some of them. Knowing what makes a good design or a good computer program is as much (if not more) a matter of experience as education. I'm guessing you don't try to design circuits or write programs because you've never taken an interest in it. So why knock those people taking an interest in your profession just for their lack of experience. --------- Jeff Calhoun Dept of Computer Science, University of Illinois Rm 222 Digital Computing Lab 1304 W. Springfield, Urbana, IL 61801 Internet, BITNET: calhoun@cs.uiuc.edu UUCP: {uunet,convex,pur-ee}!uiucuxc!uiucdcs!calhoun ARPANET: calhoun%uiucdcs@uxc.cso.uiuc.edu CSNET: calhoun%uiucdcs@uiuc.csnet