Typographic Etiquette

These tiny typographic details can make a big difference

Use Smart Quotes, Dummy How to type these !@fi×” things

Char HTML Mac OS Unicode

The "quotation marks" provided on your keyboard are stiff, lifeless, and dumb.
Smart is sexy. “Smart quotes” are sexy. See? ‘ ‘ ⌥ + ] U+2018
“ S m a rt ” q u o t e s “Dumb” quotes ’ ’ ⌥ + ⇧ + ] U+2019
“That’s swell!” "That's swell!" “ “ ⌥ + ⇧ + [ U+201C
” ” ⌥ + ⇧ + ] U+2019D
Quotation Marks Don’t Measure Up ′ ′ – U+2032
Quotation marks aren’t meant to be used for units of measurement.
Use Prime and Double Prime. ″ ″ – U+2033
P r i m e & D o u b l e P r i m e Q u o tat i o n M a r k s
× × – U+00D7
She’s 5′6″ She’s 5’6” − − – U+2212
÷ ÷ ⌥ + / U+00F7
One Space After a Period. Not Two. fi fi ⌥ + ⇧ + 5 U+FB01
There’s already a period, a space, and a capital letter to signal the new sentence.
Isn’t that enough for you? Besides, the extra spaces create unsightly gaps in
fl fl ⌥ + ⇧ + 6 U+FB02
body copy. ff ff – U+FB00
ffi ffi – U+FB03
+1 for Proper Math Symbols ffl ffl – U+FB04
x×x>xxx

M at h S y m b o l s n o t M at h S y m b o l s

2 × 2 = 6 − 2
The letter “x” Hyphen
2x2=6-2 What’s the best way to use
ligatures on the web?
When should you avoid
justified type?
Ligatures Bring Letters Together
Unlike twins, some letters pairings look weird unless they’re conjoined. Learn this and more in the new book
Design for Hackers
W i t h L i g at u r e s W i t h o u t L i g at u r e s Reverse-Engineering Beauty
find find by David Kadavy

afford afford
ISBN: 978-1-119-99895-2

affinity affinity
Available on

affluenza affluenza www.designforhackers.com

v 1.1 August 6, 2013