There are some sinful, shameful, or just plain ugly things that some people do with desktop publishing that make some of us cringe. A nice poster I found on Flickr: The 13 Deadly Sins from Lauren Kennedy's photostream. She also has a two-sided brochure version (front / inside). Not surprisingly, many of these sins correspond directly to my own 12 rules of desktop publishing including:
Some nice additions I didn't address directly are hyphens for bullets (use real bullets -- there are so many to choose from) and underlining (except for hypertext links it's a bad idea).
Have a rule or something that must be avoided that's not in my list or on the poster? Write about it in this Reader Response form: Your #1 Rule or Best Practice for Page Layout (aka - The Missing Rules of Desktop Publishing)
And for more rules and things to avoid:
- The 13 Deadly Sins of Desktop Publishing (just the text. Credit says: Created for educational use by Don Starr, based off Robin Williams original work.)
- The Seven Deadly Sins of Desktop Publishing (includes things like busy layouts, bad flow, and no clear hierarchy of importance)
- 3 Deadly Sins of Print Design (color and resolution issues)
- The unspoken rules of graphic design (real and funny but not real funny when it's happening to you)
- 5 Design Rules Everyone Should Know (readers of this site should be familiar with most of these already... #5: It’s okay to break the ‘rules’. -- yes, but learn the rules first)
- Desktop Publishings 12 Most Common Mistakes
I’m happily reading along, nodding agreement with every point taken — and then, I see it. Among the places it’s OK to use clipart, a yearbook. Literally hundreds, perhaps more, yearbook advisers would have hissy fits if student staff members suggested the use of clip art. Just as in other communication, clip art has no place in a yearbook. Space is precious in a yearbook. To fill it with clip art is a sin.
For those who have problems NOT typing double spaces, use find and replace. It’s a handy way to get the double spaces out.
I have to admit that going with the single space was one of the hardest things I ever had to learn. The double space at the end of a sentence was so natural after years on the typewriter that it took real effort to learn to drop this.
I have to admit that I wish it would come back. It is visually nicer to me, and make materials easier to read.
From the poster, number 12 “Underline”
“It you want to emphasize a word,”
Just a reminder that if you want to get on a high horse, spellchecker won’t save you all the time.