Chapter XVIII: Section C: shows a plain letter of modern cut known erroneously as (7)

The only way the typographical appearance of the average newspaper can be improved is by first reducing the glaring headlines and heterogeneous assortment of type-faces to a neutral gray. Upon this drab background the details of suitable and harmonious typographic form can be built.

However, it is easier to assert that the typography of newspapers can be improved than it is to improve it. In the early days of newspaper publishing the problem was a simple one, but today the newspapers of the large cities have hundreds of thousands of readers to serve, and much of the prevailing poor typography has resulted from efforts to present the news to these readers in a way that editors assume will please them best, without giving any thought to technical defects in the type work.

EXAMPLE 402

First number of the first American newspaper issued regularly
]

EXAMPLE 404

Front-page make-up of a Hearst newspaper on the occasion of a big
story. All of the display headings are probably too large
]

EXAMPLE 405

The same news story, featured by the conservative “Times.” Headings
are mostly well balanced. Note the use of panels
]

The ideal newspaper would probably be one in which the reader finds it easy to locate and read the articles in which he is interested, and in which the contents are presented in an orderly, good-looking, well-balanced and harmonious manner.

THE TITLE.—The name of the newspaper at the head of the front page should be distinctive in design, and it would probably add interest if the style of the letters composing the title bore some relation to that used at the time the publication was founded. Unfortunately, on most newspapers the headings are altered every time a new type dress is adopted.

For titles, most publishers of city newspapers seem to have a liking for English or German text letters. Such letters are doubtless good for the purpose, as they are different from any that appear elsewhere in newspapers. The New York _Sun_, as an instance, uses a black German text letter, altho on its first issue in 1833 the title head appeared in modern roman capitals.

It has become a practice to make use of the blank space on both ends of the title line, and in such spaces will now be found weather forecasts, slogans such as “All the News That’s Fit to Print,” and edition names. (See Example 405.) It was the custom at one time, and is today to some extent, to print under the title a quotation which defined the newspaper’s editorial policy. (See Example 403.)

A type line under the title separated by rules on both sides contains the name of the city, the date, the volume number, and information regarding the price. (See Example 403.) Usually the rules have a double line, altho some newspapers use single rules for this purpose.

THE TEXT.—The main desire of newspaper publishers, besides preparing the news, seems to be to have the matter set in the smallest size of type that can possibly be read. The large city dailies habitually use a seven-point type-face, which is the smallest that should appear on any newspaper. (See Example 406.) During the recent prevailing high cost of print paper some publishers began to use six-point in order to save paper, but they found that this move was a mistake. Newspapers are published to be read, and everything possible should be done to make the reader’s task an easy one. Experiments by an educational body in England resulted in determining that ten-point should be the minimum size of type used for educational purposes. From this it will be seen that the seven-point type used on newspapers is too small and a cause of eyestrain.

The narrow width of the columns of newspapers—twelve and a half or thirteen picas—makes reading of the small type fairly easy, however. The eye has been tested scientifically and the discovery made that a person actually sees at a glance less than an inch of a line of type. Hence long lines require extreme side movements of the eyeballs or of the head. It is a mistake, as will be seen, to set editorials in a measure that extends over two columns, as is done on some publications.

Space between lines also helps the reader in locating the beginning of the next line, for which reason, and also to give them prominence, editorials are usually leaded. The beginning of an important article is sometimes leaded.

Lengthy excerpts or quotations are usually set in the same size of type but indented one em at the right and left ends of the line. (See Example 405, third column.)

THE HEADINGS.—The first newspaper continuously published in this country was a letter (see Example 402), and the items it contained were not set off with headings. As the quantity of news increased and newspapers became larger in size, headings were added. During the middle of the last century most of these were side headings joined to the first paragraph. When it became possible to print news promptly more attention was given to displaying the headings. As the Civil War developed, newspaper headlines grew, and with the Spanish War came front-page headings of poster proportions.

Headlines not only advertise the contents of the text pages, but assist the reader quickly to absorb the news. As the reader cannot in these busy days read the entire paper, headings assist him in locating the items in which he is interested.

The error of using thrilling scareheads for comparatively unimportant events was made evident when the European War started. Some of the publications had cried “Wolf!” so frequently that there was no emphasis left for a really big story.

EXAMPLE 406

Actual size of a well-treated four-deck Heading
]

Head-letter type should not be intensely black, unless the reader is expected to read only the headlines. It is irritating to attempt to read the text matter in an article if strong black headlines continually glare at you. (See Example 404.) The head letter should be just a trifle darker in tone than the background of text type, or if liberal leading is possible a letter the same tone as the text is suitable.

Because of the narrowness of newspaper columns it is necessary that type for headlines shall be slightly condensed, especially for the large lines. As few type-faces are legible in a condensed form, it is a problem to select a type-face for this purpose. Probably the most successful type-face of this kind has proved to be Latin Antique Condensed, a letter that has been in such use for a number of years. (See Example 406.)

It is, of course, best to have all type-faces harmonious in design, but the requirements of the newspaper are so unusual that in order to secure contrast this rule must be violated. In Example 403 will be seen the neat and restful effect that is possible by using thruout type that is harmonious, yet there is a monotony to the page that could probably be overcome by substituting, say, italic for roman in several of the headings. On the page of the New York _Times_ (Example 405) will be found headings in italic. Lower-case italic looks well used for the main lines of a double-column heading.

EXAMPLE 407

The sporting page of the New York “Tribune,” showing interesting
make-up
]

It is well first to harmonize the newspaper page, as in Example 403, and then add needed contrast, as in most newspapers attempts at contrast are so frequent that the result is confusing.

Paneled headings also add variety; specimens of such headings will be found in Examples 404, 407 and 408.

Restraint in the use of display headings by the New York _Times_, as compared with the noisy scareheads of the New York _American_ used in reporting the same news, will be seen by comparing Example 405 with Example 404.

What is called a four-deck single-column heading, as used by the New York _Times_, is shown actual size in Example 406. Latin Antique Condensed is used for the first two lines and Newspaper Gothic for the other three decks. This heading as it stands is perhaps the most pleasing and legible of those used by metropolitan newspapers. A four-deck heading should present in the first deck the feature of the story; the first deck, and if possible every other deck in the heading, should contain a verb. The third deck is really the second in importance, and, like the first one, is usually set in capitals. The size of the lower-case used for the fourth deck is usually smaller than that used for the second. It would be a mistake to use capitals for the second and fourth decks, as the result would be monotonous and illegible. The small section of text matter accompanying the head also shows a seven-point face on an eight-point slug, as used by the _Times_.

THE MAKE-UP.—In the make-up of a newspaper the sometimes derided “art tenets” should not be neglected. A good-looking newspaper has well-balanced headings, properly placed illustrations, and the various typographic details treated according to the requirements of good taste. Large display headings are usually alternated at the head of the page with small headings, which arrangement not only looks well, but enables the reader to peruse one heading without interference from another.

It is the practice of most good newspapers not to have advertisements appear on the front page, which is given over to the important news of the day. As will be seen by Examples 404 and 405, the article of most importance, no matter how large the heading given to it, appears in the furthermost right column, whence it is usually continued to the second page. Example 403 also shows how an important article can be featured in the center of the page.

Interest and variety are also obtained by the use of a one-point rule around a portion of the news, as will be seen on Examples 404 and 405. The type matter on the inside is set close to, but not against, the rule panel.

The editorials on most newspapers are to be found on the sixth page, and on the same page letters to the editors are also placed. There is a movement, begun by the Hearst newspapers, to have the editorials appear on the last page so that they may be read without the necessity of locating them in the paper.

The sporting page has also come to be an important feature of the newspaper. An attractively arranged sporting page is shown in Example 407.

It is customary to build advertisements from the lower right corner of the page in a step or pyramid arrangement. (See Example 408.) This allows most of the text matter to appear at the left and in the upper portion of the page, and also makes it easy to give position next to reading matter as required by some advertisers.

EXAMPLE 408

So-called pyramid make-up of a newspaper’s advertisements. A
“make-believe” newspaper
]

EXAMPLE 409

Church book decorative treatment by Will Bradley Featured on a
Thanksgiving number of “Collier’s”
]

PERIODICALS

The typography and the make-up of periodicals in the century last past were sedate and uninteresting to most Americans. As a consequence there came a change, and publishers endeavored to make their publications more attractive to readers. The letterer and the decorator were permitted to let their fancies run free over the magazine pages, and assuming that their readers had poor taste and weak eyesight the publishers of trade journals splattered their pages with ugly black circus poster type.

So long as there is poor printing (we read in the Good Book: “For ye have the poor always with you”) there will be periodicals typographically poor. Yet, thanks to those who have trained themselves as typographic advisors, many American periodicals are now good to look at and at the same time easy to read.

EXAMPLE 410

Dignity in make-up and type treatment. By Walter Gilliss
]

We will consider the dimensions of the publication, the front cover, number of columns, the margins, type-faces for the text and for the headings, make-up of the illustrations, arrangement of headings, the captions, the editorial pages, features, and the advertisements.

* * * * *

THE DIMENSIONS.—Whim has much to do with the selection of sizes for periodicals, and precedent, or what the other fellow is using, has some influence also. Assembled and stood on end, several dozen periodicals gathered at random present the appearance of a platoon of “rookie” soldiers before they have been ranged according to hight.

Sixty-six business and technical publications were recently measured by the writer, and the dimensions of about half of them approximated 9 × 12 inches. The other half varied from 6 × 9 to 10 × 15 inches.

EXAMPLE 411

Harmony of the type-faces used for heading and text
]

Examination of about two score of magazines revealed three groups of dimensions: 7 × 10, 9 × 12 and 11 × 14 inches. These dimensions are approximate, few magazines measuring exactly the same, the variations amounting to half an inch in some instances and several inches in others.

EXAMPLE 412

Advertising the story to the readers
]

EXAMPLE 414

Style of make-up of these three pages suggested by Benjamin Sherbow
]

EXAMPLE 413

Interesting heading treatment and inserted feature panel
]

_Scribner’s_ is a type of the magazine in the 7 × 10 class (the actual measurement being a trifle minus); the _Independent_, of the 9 × 12 class (actual measurement 8¾ × 12 inches); and the _Saturday Evening Post_, of the 11 × 14 class, measuring exactly that size.

There has been a movement among magazines away from the smaller dimensions toward the larger, for the purpose of better displaying features and of enabling reading matter to be placed alongside of advertisements.

To a similar extent the business and technical publications have experienced reductions from the very large sizes that originally were probably inspired by the bigness of newspapers.

There are also a few small pocket magazines of the _Philistine_ size that Elbert Hubbard made popular.

* * * * *

THE FRONT COVER.—Typography has little to do with the average cover of the general magazine in America. The foundation of the design is usually a painting, the subject being seasonable or otherwise appropriate. Lettering and decoration are added by an artist other than the one drawing the picture. In such cases the design is changed with every issue. Some magazines, the more conservative ones, use a design containing lettering and decoration only, and with each issue merely change such lettering as refers to editorial features.

The European custom of printing a paid advertisement on the front cover of periodicals has extended to America, and, while such advertisements will not be found on the general magazines, some business and technical periodicals have succumbed to the temptation thus offered for increased revenue.

When the front cover is sold, only an inch or so is retained for the title of the periodical. One publisher did stipulate that no color in the cover advertisement should come within two inches of the title; but even this rule is now disregarded on his periodicals. The time may yet come when the title of a publication will appear at the foot of the front cover in six-point.

EXAMPLE 415

Headings and text matter in the same face of type, Scotch Roman
]

EXAMPLE 416

Type of medium strength and use of a small illustration in heading
]

EXAMPLE 410-A

Section of text matter from the “World’s Work”

(Monotype No. 22-E, 10-point on 11-point body, 10 set)
]

A weekly technical periodical in every issue has some appropriate view made into halftone and uses it inside a large panel under the title, and a photographic journal prints a reproduction of an artistic photograph on the cover, changing the subject with each issue.

* * * * *

COLUMNS.—The number of columns to a page should be decided by the size of type used. Seven-point and eight-point type should be confined in columns twelve or thirteen picas wide. Ten-point, eleven-point and twelve-point type can be read even if the columns are sixteen or more picas wide. However, no column in a book or periodical should exceed twenty-four picas. Neither should a column be unreasonably narrow.

Scientific tests show that the eye is strained in the reading of wide columns. The column should be of such width that reading of the matter can be accomplished with only slight movements of the eyes to the right, after they have been focused at the beginning of the line to fit the size of type. When the column is too wide the head must be moved to the right and left with the reading of every line or the eyes may be injured from the strain and repeated change of focus.

A look over the examples of periodical pages in this chapter will show practically an acceptance of these requirements—three columns in the periodicals of large size and two columns in those of smaller size. For pocket magazines one column is naturally sufficient. In several instances (Examples 417 and 418) three columns instead of two would have been advisable.

Gutenberg, when he planned the pages of his famous Bible, arranged for two columns each about twenty picas wide, altho his type was large—about twenty points in size.

EXAMPLE 424-A

Section of text matter from the “Saturday Evening Post”

(Monotype No. 20-A, 8-point on 9-point body, 8¾ set)
]

It is a great mistake to set, as some business publications do, six-point type in lines twenty-five or thirty picas wide. To require the reader’s eyes, after being focused on such small type, to travel back and forth that distance is almost an invitation not to read the matter.

* * * * *

THE MARGINS.—Blank space surrounding the printed pages in periodicals should be apportioned as it is in good books—the smallest margin at the binding side and increasing in amount in this order: Head, outer side, foot. Even when the total amount of margin is small it should be apportioned in this manner.

The rule can be stated in another way: the largest margin at the foot, with the type page inclining toward the bound side.

Periodical binderies do not always give the publisher good margins, even after he has planned for them. Unevenly cut paper, careless folding and inaccurate trimming will prevent the securing of desired results.

In measuring margins the running headings should be ignored if they are small, but in any event the printed page should have the appearance of being a trifle high on the leaf.

* * * * *

TYPE-FACES FOR THE TEXT.—Type-faces for the text matter of most periodicals must be chosen for reasons different from those governing the selection of type-faces for other purposes, because of the small size, usually eight-point or nine-point.

EXAMPLE 422-A

Section of text matter from the “Independent”

(Monotype No. 20-A, 9-point on 10-point body, 9¾ set)
]

Type-faces that are legible and good-looking in twelve-point may prove illegible and ill-looking in eight-point. This is to some extent true of Caslon Oldstyle when printed on calendered surfaces. Such illegibility may be due to the hairlines, which almost disappear in the small sizes.

Commendable letters for periodicals that require small type-faces are the dark-printing kind represented by Century Expanded. Examples 422 and 424 are set in letters of this kind. (See also Examples 422-A and 424-A for type matter as actually used.)

As these types have short descenders the text matter is made more legible by separating lines with one-point leads or, in machine composition, by casting a face on a body a point larger (as in Example 424-A, which shows an eight-point face cast on a nine-point body, and in Example 422-A, which shows nine-point on ten-point body).

French Oldstyle (especially Cadmus) is not only fairly legible in small sizes but good-looking. A representative of this style of type will be found in Examples 410 and 411, and is shown actual size in Example 410-A.

Modern or old-style type-faces that are legible when printed on news paper or antique paper are sometimes not so when printed on calendered surfaces. A type-face such as Caslon Oldstyle was designed for printing on dampened paper of an unfinished surface, and it is no wonder that it does not appear at its best in small sizes on calendered paper.

EXAMPLE 417

Box headings are conspicuous on this editorial page
]

EXAMPLE 419

Excellent typography of an editorial page
]

EXAMPLE 418

Another way to feature the editorials
]

EXAMPLE 420

Novel use of rules on an editorial page. By Sherbow
]

EXAMPLE 421

News photograph on the front page
]

It is absolutely necessary that the text matter of a periodical be easily read, yet the type-face should not be selected for that reason alone. It should be well formed and pleasing to look at, and, if possible, be a face that makes feasible some harmony in design between text type and head letter.

In publications that have text matter in eleven-point or twelve-point a letter such as Caslon Oldstyle would doubtless be satisfactory, and on small publications Old-Style Antique or Cushing Oldstyle render excellent service.

Scotch Roman, notwithstanding the fact that it contains hairlines, gives fairly good results, provided the paper is not highly calendered.

Letters with hairlines when printed on calendered paper lack the little legibility that they otherwise possess. Many letters could be made more legible, especially those composed on machines, by cutting the matrices so that the print of the thin lines is a trifle stronger.

The chapter on “Type-Faces” should be read in this connection.

* * * * *

TYPE-FACES FOR THE HEADINGS.—An ideal condition in periodical make-up is one which makes possible the use for headings of the identical design of type that has been selected for the text matter, as in Examples 410 and 411, where a French Oldstyle has been used, and in Example 415, where Scotch Roman is the type-face.

It is not possible always to use the very same design of type-face for both headings and text matter. After a text letter has been chosen for legibility or other reason, the identical type in larger sizes may prove to be too plain for the sort of periodical on which it is to appear. And there are sometimes special reasons, regrettable but unavoidable, an instance of which is this volume, wherein the text matter is in Scotch Roman (a modern letter with some relation to old-style) and the headings and captions in a type-face of old-style form. This combination is not ideal, and the explanation follows. In order that “The Art and Practice of Typography” could be published at a price that would enable it to be widely circulated, the chapters, as soon as each was prepared, were first printed in _The American Printer_. The type-face used for the text matter and headings in that publication was Scotch Roman, hence it was felt necessary to use Scotch Roman for the text of this volume. However, it was believed that a darker type-face of old-style formation would be more pleasing for the headings, and a Goudy letter was selected.

EXAMPLE 422

Fine specimen of typographic make-up
]

A modern type-face (Bodoni Bold) appears on the headings in Example 412, 413 and 414. Bodoni (not the bold) is also used for headings in Examples 416 and 427.

Caslon Oldstyle is to be found used for both headings and text in Examples 426 and 430. Old-Style Antique appears in Example 431.

The _Saturday Evening Post_ for many years made use of an old-style letter for its headings that as a type-face was known as Post Oldstyle. The italic, outlined and filled in with gray-printing lines, is shown in Example 424.

A Gothic decorative letter is not out of place on a Christmas number of _Collier’s_ (Example 425), but is not recommended for general use on periodical pages.

Large, bold, black type-faces for headings in periodicals should be avoided.

Interest can be added, in the treatment of department headings of technical publications, by using slightly decorative panels, but such decoration should be light or slight, and not the commonplace sort sometimes found in ill-treated job work.

EXAMPLE 423

An attractive first text page. By Lester Douglas
]

Editorial and title headings in typographic treatment should blend with other parts of the text pages and not look, as some do, like quarter-page advertisements inserted in reading matter. Example 429 shows good treatment.

* * * * *

MAKE-UP OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS.—When planning to use illustrations on periodicals both facing pages should be before the person doing the planning. The text matter of the two pages forms a background of gray, and the problem is to place illustrations, headings and initials in positions that will not only be well balanced but so assembled that one will not interfere with another.

Usually there should be some text matter between illustrations; they should be placed toward the outer side of the page (see Example 422). The center position is practicable when there are three columns and the illustration is but a single column in width, or when the expense of running around may be incurred (see Example 424).

Illustrations frequently look better separated from the heading, as in Example 414, than when joined with the heading, as in Example 412.

The same style of illustration should, if possible, be used on facing pages. Make-up that shows a line plate on one page and a halftone on the adjoining page is inharmonious and not so pleasing as when all illustrations on facing pages are of the same character. They should be, say, either line like that in Example 414 or halftone like that in Example 412.

EXAMPLE 424

Illustration placed in center, necessitating running around
]

EXAMPLE 425

Feature page of a Christmas number
]

When an illustration appears on a text page, initial letters should be plain and small, as in Example 414; but when no illustration appears the initial can be large, as in Example 411, or even decorative. For regular purposes initials as used on Examples 409 and 425 are inadvisable.

EXAMPLE 426

Convention feature page of a technical journal
]

Pleasing use of a vignette style of illustration is to be seen in Example 430. It lends interest to the first text page and at the same time illustrates the leading article.

The illustration in Example 429 is also effectively placed.

* * * * *

ARRANGEMENT OF HEADINGS.—Headings, in a way, advertise or “sell” the contents of a periodical, and their arrangement depends on how far the editor or layout man wishes to go in advertising or “selling” the contents. The American people have so much reading matter available that it is probably necessary in most instances almost to force them to read the various articles in periodicals. Encyclopedias are read even if there are no display headings and the type is in six-point, and there are periodicals that are read without urging; but it may as well be conceded that articles are read more when they are well advertised.

A well-advertised story will be found in Example 413. The title is brought out prominently in a large, bold type, as is the name of the author. The italic line above the title smacks of real advertising, as does the group of type inserted in the upper part of the text. The display in Example 412 is frankly advertising in its appearance.

The _Saturday Evening Post_ heading (Example 424) is large, but there is no descriptive advertising, and there is little of the nervous fear of going unread so evident in Examples 412 and 413.

Calm, yet pleasing, treatment of headings is to be found in Examples 411 and 423. It is well to give attention to the presentation of article headings, but sometimes in the place where the heading should go there is so much noise and so much talking that, as a means of resting the nerves, the leaf is quickly turned or the periodical laid aside.

EXAMPLE 427

News headings and make-up
]

Periodical titles, as they appear on the first text page of each issue, are variously treated. The small, neat effect of Example 423 is commendable. It is in Scotch Roman and harmonizes with the article heading and text type. Title headings on a larger scale will be found in Examples 410, 415 and 416. Special lettering is sometimes pleasing, as in Examples 421 and 430.

The news department of trade and business periodicals requires numerous headings. Example 427 is suggestive. There the news articles are in narrow columns and have a newspaper style of heading.

Caslon Oldstyle looks well on any class of publication. Roman capitals and lower-case and italic may be used in the same line, as on Example 429.

* * * * *

THE CAPTIONS.—It is customary to set captions centered under illustrations in a size smaller of the type-face used for the text matter and to arrange the caption in one or more lines no wider than the illustration.

When the caption is in two parts the first part is usually set in capitals and the second part in lower-case, both centered. The lower-case is sometimes roman and sometimes italic.

Seldom do captions receive the special decorative treatment that has been accorded them in Examples 412 and 414. Even two-line initial letters have been used with them.

The plain double caption in roman capitals and lower-case is to be found in Examples 421 and 422. A single caption in italic lower-case is shown inside a rule that surrounds the illustration in Example 424.

EXAMPLE 428

A conservative and readable editorial page
]

Arrangement of captions in lines of the same length, making a block of type (as in this book) is liked by many. However, the caption is to be read and its shape is not of more importance than its legibility. It is a mistake to arrange a caption in several lines of capitals and then letterspace some of the words to obtain the block effect. Such letterspacing advertises the effort as unsuccessful and also disfigures the page.

* * * * *

THE EDITORIAL PAGES.—In periodicals, editorial pages are treated variously. There is no standard style such as is found in most newspapers. All five editorial pages reproduced here, in make-up and typographic treatment, differ from one another.

The _Ladies’ Home Journal_ (Example 417) has the title of each editorial in a small rule panel along with the publication’s trademark, and the matter is set in two wide columns. The first clause beginning each editorial is composed in capitals and small capitals. The page is surrounded by a double-line border.

_Collier’s_ (Example 418) begins each editorial with an initial letter, followed by several words in capitals, and the title in a dark-faced italic is set at the left end of the line. A decorative symbolic heading is placed above all.

_System_ (Example 419) has a neat, readable editorial page, arranged in an interesting manner. The name of the magazine, of the editor, and the month and volume are neatly placed at the top, and the blank space that follows, occupied solely by the small black decorative mark, gives pleasure. Each editorial is introduced by a heading in small capitals and by an initial, which is larger in the first article. The editorial page of _Advertising and Selling_ (Example 420), by Sherbow, is unlike any of the others. Rules are used between columns, on both sides of headings, and above and below the page heading. The result is pleasing, and invites reading of the page.

EXAMPLE 429

Caslon headings and an old-style text type
]

The style of make-up of _The American Printer_ editorial page (Example 428) was purposely patterned after that of the conventional newspaper editorial page. The editorials of conservative metropolitan newspapers are probably read more regularly than any other part of the publications, and such reading has possibly been invited by the restful style of the typography. There is reason to believe that this somewhat old-fashioned treatment and its lack of affectation have really accomplished what was intended.

The editorial page should be unlike the other pages of a periodical, and these examples should assist printers and editors in determining suitable typographic treatment.

* * * * *

FEATURES.—Typography can have much to do with the playing up of features in periodical make-up. An instance is the page reproduced as Example 426, which consists of what would ordinarily be the notes of the convention. In this instance the notes were written in a style that suggests the quaint diction of Colonial days. Some of the words of the text were capitalized, as was done in those times. In the page heading a few of the letters were tilted to give an irregularity caused in old composition by defective typefounding. Even the brass rules were nicked (brass rule was seldom in good condition in the old days). A crude initial of ancient vintage and an illustration simulating an old woodcut added decorative interest. This page was a change from the routine style of the other pages.

The page from _Collier’s_ (Example 409, Insert) was one of the features of a Thanksgiving number. Its decorative border suggests the treatment found in Books of Common Prayer (see page 27).

EXAMPLE 430

Caslon typography on a magazine. By Will Bradley
]

Christmas feature treatment is also found in Example 425, also by Will Bradley. The text letter used in this example for initials and headings is hardly suitable for use generally in periodicals, but for occasional features it is not out of place.

Verse when used will usually look more interesting set in italic, especially when the italic has a decorative quality. One of the important general magazines sets verse in Kennerley italic in a decorative panel broken into the text page at a suitable point.

Important parts of an article reprinted in an attractive panel on the same page would call attention to the article and invite reading.

A certain amount of restraint is necessary when planning typographic features for periodicals. Type-faces should be selected with knowledge and care, and seldom should large sizes be used. “Jobby” display effects are never in order on the text pages of periodicals.

* * * * *

THE ADVERTISEMENTS.—The typographic details of the editorial section of a national periodical in the field of advertising were recently revised and made more pleasing, yet when made up and printed the work that had been done was so overshadowed and counteracted by the bold types on the advertising pages that the general result was disappointing.

It is useless to attempt good typography on periodicals so long as advertisements are inserted in text pages or occupy facing positions; that is, it is useless unless the periodicals set or reset the advertisements neatly in good taste as is done by the Curtis publications.

Advertisements should not be mingled with text matter. According to old-fashioned ideas, the reader buys a periodical for the text matter, and it is for him to determine whether or not he shall read the advertising pages. In some publications the text pages are yet to be found intact, altho preceded and followed by sold space; in others good resolves peter out as text meets advertisement toward the rear, and in others—a majority perhaps—advertisements dominate almost all of the text pages.

Treatment of advertisements in periodicals need not necessarily be shy and timid; neither need it be blustering and noisy. Where advertisements are neatly treated and not unduly forced on the attention, readers are likely to give as much time to their perusal as to the text pages. A gentlemanly solicitor who talks clearly in low tones is more likely to sell goods than one who disturbs the entire office by his loud talk and boisterous demeanor. Apply this to the typography of the advertising pages.

Editorially, it is to be regretted that advertising must go “alongside of reading,” but it is to be deplored that in so many periodicals, especially of the business and technical class, reading matter is seemingly written and placed for the purpose of accommodating the advertising.

The successful publication of a periodical, as of a newspaper, depends on liberal patronage from advertisers; yet these advertisers are best served when the publication is planned with first consideration for the text features, and the advertisements are prepared to harmonize and not clash with the typography of the text matter.

EXAMPLE 431

Good typography of a pocket magazine
]

EXAMPLE 432.—A house-organ by Taylor, Nash & Taylor, San Francisco,
that features typography
]

HOUSE-ORGANS

The house-organ is the little brother of the periodical and newspaper. It is published most frequently as a means of communication between a business house and buyers of that house’s product. Sometimes the publication is circulated only among the house salesmen or other employees.

Examination of more than one hundred house-organs revealed a condition that prevails in every department of publishing—lack of standardization in dimensions. The smallest house-organ measured about 3 × 5 inches and the largest 9 × 12 inches. The dimensions grew, from the smallest to the largest, by quarter inches and half inches. There are many small pocket house-organs, some of which fit commercial envelops and others fit baronial envelops. If there is a favorite size for house-organs, it is 6 × 9, which dimensions are those of Examples 432, 436, 437, 441, 447 and 448, illustrated in this chapter. Another favorite size is 7 × 10 inches, which are the dimensions of Examples 444 and 449. House-organs planned in the style of newspapers and containing four or eight pages are usually 8 × 11 or 9 × 12 inches in size.

A different stock is frequently used for the covers of house-organs, but equally popular is the self-cover style—the first page of an eight- or sixteen-page form containing the cover design. The practices that govern the use of cover designs on periodicals apply to some extent to house-organs, although typographic covers are more often found on the last-mentioned kind of publication.

Example 441 shows a typographic cover in which most of the page is given over to a table of contents—not a bad idea when the contents are abundant.

Should a house-organ consist of only two or four leaves, it is unnecessary to give over the entire first page to a cover design, as the title could be treated as in Examples 436, 438, 439, 448 and 452. If the cover page is to be lettered, it is well to have it treated in a style that will harmonize with the typography of the inner pages. See Example 435.

Seldom is there any reason for a house-organ to contain more than four or eight pages. Few of the more ambitious house-organs survive the first one or two issues, or are profitable if they do. A house-organ to be effective should be published regularly. Too many instead of being periodicals are “spasmodicals.” There is more likelihood of a house-organ being published regularly if it be modest in plan and brief in contents. Printers err when they suggest elaborate and bulky house-organs to their customers. The smaller kind, neat and stylish in typography, attractive in make-up, good to look at and easy to read, are more desirable under average conditions.

EXAMPLE 433
]

EXAMPLE 434
]

EXAMPLE 435

Pages from a quaintly-treated house-organ, by the Seaver Howland
Press, Boston. Both type and illustration suggest the “good old
days”
]

EXAMPLE 436

Distinctive lettering and typography
]

EXAMPLE 437

Interpolated paragraphs in italic
]

EXAMPLE 438

A house-organ in miniature
]

EXAMPLE 439

Planned after the printer’s house-organ at the left
]

The titles of house-organs are not usually as conventional and dignified as those of magazines and other periodicals, although those who have a liking for the conventional select the word “Bulletin,” adding to it as part of the title a word which connects it with the business. Hence we have the “Linotype Bulletin,” the “Hampshire Service Bulletin” (Example 436) and the “Ad.-League Bulletin” (Example 440). Printers, for their house-organs, use a variety of titles that include “Typographica,” “Imprint” (Examples 432, 442, 445, 446, 450 and 451), “The Typographer” (Example 438), “Pica” (Example 448), “Type Talks” (Example 452), “Warde’s Words” (Example 447). In other lines are to be found “Drug Topics,” “Statler Salesmanship,” “The Constructive Banker,” “The Wallace” (Example 444), “Poor Richard’s New Almanack,” “Selling Sense” and “The Ambassador” (Example 455).

EXAMPLE 440

Attractive rule treatment of headings
]

EXAMPLE 442

Simple, effective typography
]

The number of columns that should be used in house-organs depends, of course, on the size of the page. One column is sufficient for the small pocket publication (Examples 433, 434, 435, 445, 446, 453, 458 and 459). The page should be made up in two columns when the size is about 6 × 9 (Examples 438, 439, 440, 444, 448, 449, 450 and 451). The purpose of more than one column is to make reading easier and not just to provide a narrow column. On some house-organs the columns are made so narrow that it is as difficult to read them as when they are very wide.

EXAMPLE 441

Contents outlined on the cover
]

The margins on the house-organs should be of the same proportions as on periodicals and booklets—the most margin at the foot, with the type-page inclining toward the head and binding side. In fact, such margins should be found on all printing in which there are two facing pages.

The type-faces used on house-organs should be legible and at the same time good-looking. Caslon Oldstyle is suitable for house-organs as well as most other purposes. The Caslon style of type is used on Examples 433, 434, 436, 440, 441, 448, 450, 451, 453, and 455. Other faces used on the house-organs here reproduced are Kennerley Oldstyle (Examples 432, 445, 446), Old-Style Antique (Examples 442 and 447), Cloister Oldstyle (Example 452), Bodoni Book (Examples 457 and 458). These and other good faces are available for house-organ purposes.

EXAMPLE 443

Dark-toned typography by Griffith-Stillings Press, Boston
]

EXAMPLE 445
]

EXAMPLE 446

Rubricated typography by Taylor & Taylor, San Francisco
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EXAMPLE 444

Suitable treatment for this silverware publication
]

What has been said in the chapter on “Periodicals” about the suitability of type for headings applies as well to house-organs. In most of the pages here reproduced it will be seen that the head letter is the same kind of type as the text letter or is harmoniously similar.

The treatment of display announcements or house advertising should be such as to carry out the purpose for which the house-organ is issued. If, as an instance, the publication is issued for the purpose of presenting the attractive wares of a stationery house, it would be well to devote half of the pages to illustrations, descriptions and prices of stationery supplies. Sometimes when the display announcements are as numerous as the text pages, an announcement is placed on the left page facing a text page at the right. When this is done, the typography should be neat in appearance; the type sizes should not be large, and the type itself not any blacker than, say, Caslon Oldstyle. Especially is it a mistake to use dark faces when illustrations of merchandise are a part of the page. Dark type-faces subordinate and render ineffective such illustrations.

A house-organ designed entirely—display announcements included—in the original Caslon Oldstyle by someone who knows how to get the best out of the type, would be ideal. The capitals, small capitals and lower-case of roman, and the capitals and lower-case of italic, can be manipulated so as to produce an abundance of typographic variety and interest.

EXAMPLE 447

Easily read and pleasingly illustrated. By the Warde Press, Pittsburgh
]

While house-organs should be edited with the purpose of presenting useful technical and business information to customers, there should be sufficient light matter and features to maintain interest. Not unimportant is the typography of such features. In the make-up of all house-organs are spaces at the end of articles that are available for feature purposes. Example 432 shows how one bit of blank space was made attractive by well-arranged small capitals, and in Example 450 similar use has been made of italic.

Articles of merchandise that are old-fashioned in their appeal furnish a motif for typographic treatment that can be made a feature. Examples 433 and 434 show Colonial typographic treatment, the use of italic and spaced small capitals, added to which is a feature page topped by an old-fashioned woodcut.

There is a suggestion of ancient rubricated books in the typographic handling of Example 445, appropriate for a printer who does typography especially well.

Borders around the text pages of house-organs can be made to act as features if they are designed with proper restraint, as was done in Examples 432 and 450.

Rules and decorative borders, ornaments and initials are not out of place on house-organs when used as they are in Examples 440, 443, 444 and 445.

When the house-organ is issued monthly an old-fashioned “almanack,” with appropriate matter interpolated, makes a good feature, as in Example 457.

EXAMPLE 448

A typographic house-organ
]

EXAMPLE 449

An editorial page of typographic neatness
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EXAMPLE 450

Attractive use of rules and italic
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EXAMPLE 452

A page in Cloister type
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EXAMPLE 451

An elaborate house-organ title-page
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EXAMPLE 453

Use of paragraph marks. From Cottrell’s Magazine
]

As a novelty, house-organs have been printed on blotter stock. The general treatment for blotter house-organs is not different from that of other kinds. The appearance of a publication is maintained and the matter is merely adapted to the dimensions of the blotter.

EXAMPLE 454

A good specimen of house-organ cover
]

EXAMPLE 456

Cover of “The Philistine” issued about two months before Elbert
Hubbard went down with the “Lusitania”
]

House-organs are sometimes successful when laid out in newspaper style for four pages about 9 × 12 inches in size. The text matter is planned for three columns, the text type being eight- or nine-point, such as is customarily found on machines. Headings are graduated on the newspaper plan according to their importance. Illustrations are included at suitable points in such newspaper-like house-organs.

EXAMPLE 455

Blank space used to good advantage. Text page from “The Ambassador”
]

There is suggestion for a novel house-organ treated in old-time newspaper style in the reproductions of the first two newspapers published in America. (See Examples 401 and 402 of the chapter on “Newspapers.”)

A western printer, who has found the house-organ to be effective in his business, expressed himself in these words:

Nowadays children are entertained as they are taught, and they
learn unconsciously and much more readily than when study was made
a task and a hardship. That is the principle we must embody in a
house-organ—entertain and instruct simultaneously. Make your
readers smile and enjoy themselves while they are learning the
value of good printing, prompt service and square dealing. Create
in them a desire to be as particular about their printing as they
are about their company or the set of a collar, but keep them
entertained and interested the while. Of course this can be
overdone, so don’t make the mistake of having too much outside
matter, but keep to your subject in a tactful way.

The day is past when business secrets can be kept from the buying
public. During the past ten years magazine and general advertising
policies have educated consumers along entirely new lines, and now
they insist on knowing why they pay special prices for specific
articles. They not only want to know why, but what it is, where it
comes from, who makes and sells it, and how. The sooner we tell
them these things, just that much sooner will confidence be
established and buyers of printing acquire a knowledge that will
enable them to buy intelligently, to distinguish between the
economy in good service and the extravagance in poor service. In a
house-organ there is unlimited opportunity for preaching the
gospel of good service and for educating the public to the fact
that that kind of service is the cheapest.

EXAMPLE 457

An “almanack” feature
]

EXAMPLE 458

Bodoni typography
]

EXAMPLE 459

Cover of a small house-organ
]

I consider the establishment of this confidence between the
printer and customer one of the strongest pulling features of a
house-organ. I do not mean by that that one should open his books
to the public, but give enough information to let your readers
know that you are in a business that requires capital for its
conduct, that it is a dignified business, that you give efficient
service, and that such efficiency costs you proportionately as
much as it costs him. Having let your readers into this much of
your business secrets, keep hammering away on your service and
efficiency, but do it in a tactful way. Don’t bore him. Entertain
him. Remember the old proverb, “He who tries to prove too much
proves nothing.” So give it in homeopathic doses, but mighty
regular ones.

A feature of the house-organ as issued by a printer should be specimens of actual work. Small cover designs and pages from booklets and other specimens can be saved and collected from overruns and presented in the house-organ. It would be better to use but one or two specimens in each issue than to overload the publication. Only creditable work should be included in this manner. If, say, a bit of four-color process work is produced, it should not be used as an exhibit merely because there is color in it, but it should be tested by answering these questions: Is it a good drawing? Are the colors properly blended, or is there an unpleasant predominance of red and yellow? Are the plates in good condition? Have they been properly printed? Unless the answer is affirmative, it would be better to include neat, modest black-and-white specimens.

Many house-organs are made ineffective by the anxiety of the business house issuing it to include everything possible. A number of issues should be planned and each should contain a limited amount of text matter and illustration. Many of those to whom the house-organ is sent also receive dozens of others, and examination and reading of the publication should not be discouraged. When there is too much of an abundance, the house-organ is either thrown in the waste basket or laid aside and never looked at again.

Loose inclosures should not be numerous. Attention is frequently taken away from the house-organ itself by the variety of envelop slips, calendars and blotters that are included in the mailing. There should be nothing but a return post card, and this should be clipped to the inside of the rear cover and not tucked in on top of the title-page, as is too often done. Several return cards are reproduced (Examples 460, 461 and 462). When these post cards are planned the postal regulations governing their use should be investigated. It may be well to quote from the United States Postal Guide:

Post cards manufactured by private persons, consisting of an
unfolded piece of cardboard in quality and weight substantially
like the Government postal card, not exceeding in size 3–9/16 by
5–9/16 inches, nor less than 2¾ by 4 inches, bearing either
written or printed messages, are transmissible without cover in
the domestic mails (including the possessions of the United
States), and to Canada, Cuba, Mexico, Republic of Panama, and city
of Shanghai (China), at the postage rate of 1 cent each, and in
the foreign mails at the rate of 2 cents each, to be paid by
stamps affixed.

Advertisements and illustrations may appear on the back of the
card and on the left half of the face. The right half of the face
must be reserved for the address, postage stamps, postmark, etc.

EXAMPLE 460
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EXAMPLE 461
]

EXAMPLE 462

Suggestions for treatment of the return post cards that usually
accompany house-organs
]

EXAMPLE 463

Comparison of the same type forms printed on a hard-finished paper,
and also on a soft-finished paper. The good qualities of these
type-faces (Caslon Oldstyle, Baskerville Roman, Kennerley Oldstyle
and Bodoni Book) are more evident and the print of the types more
legible on the soft-finished paper
]

TYPE-FACES

TYPE-FACES, at first acquaintance, are no more easily remembered than the faces of people we meet. Many persons look alike and many type-faces look alike, until we get to know them intimately and are able to distinguish their characteristics. The average man or woman is unable to identify Caslon Oldstyle, Scotch Roman, Bodoni Modern, or any specific letter used in printing, altho there are those who have a vague idea of the existence of types known as “old-style” or “modern.”

EXAMPLE 464-A

Roman alphabet from the inscription on the base of the Trajan column,
Rome, about A. D. 114. From Johnston
]

The fact that there are thousands of type-faces on the market adds to the difficulty of recognizing and naming them, and the situation is further involved by the practice of composing-machine makers in using only numbers to designate type-faces and by various typefounders giving different names to the same design of type. The special type-faces of private presses are usually given the name of the work on which they are first used.

SIX REPRESENTATIVE STANDARD ROMAN TYPE-FACES