“Right and wrong do not exist in graphic design. There is only effective and non-effective communication.”
— Peter Bilak - Illegibility
Use One Space Between Sentences
Should you put one space or two spaces after a period? The debate over how much space to put between sentences (whether they end with a period or other punctuation) may seem petty, but often it's the little details that make or break a design.
It is generally accepted that the practice of putting two spaces after a period (or other punctuation) at the end of a sentence is a carryover from the days of typewriters with monospaced typefaces. Two spaces, it was believed, made it easier to see where one sentence ended and the next began. Most typeset text, both before and after the typewriter, used a single space.
Today, with the prevalence of proportionally spaced fonts, some believe that the practice is no longer necessary and even detrimental to the appearance of text.
With mono-spaced typefaces every character takes up the same amount of space on the page. M uses the same amount of space as i. With proportionally spaced fonts, the characters take up an amount of space relative to their actual width - the i needs less space than the M.
The use of proportionally spaced type makes double spaces after a period unnecessary (if they ever were). The extra spacing is often distracting and unattractive. It creates ‘holes’ in the middle of a block of text — trapped white space on a smaller scale.
Habit and reluctance to change are only some of the reasons given for retaining the 2 spaces habit. Readers also cite readability, age, and appearance.
The Bottom Line: Professional typesetters, designers, desktop publishers, and anyone who truly cares about fonts and typography should use only one space after a period or other ending punctuation. Save the double spaces for typewriting, casual email, term papers (if prescribed by the style guide you are using), or personal correspondence. Remove extra spaces. For everyone else, do whatever makes you feel good.
Source: About.com
Blog Design Series #1 — About Centered Text
Blog Design Series #2 — Choosing a Font
1 comment:
This is an interesting and informative series. Personally, I like the two spaces, because after years and years of constructing legal documents, I don't think I could ever break the habit.
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