“The very next day, Maria
sent me a layout that
achieved the goals I wanted,
way below budget!”
Roger C. Parker
www.designtosellonline.com

The “Special characters” in your design life

Using “special characters”are just one more detail that enhances your design

What is really great about the computer is that you are no longer limited to the alphabet, numbers, some punctuation, and a few other characters.

Suddenly you have characters like the en and em dashes, ellipsis, accents, and all kinds of symbols at your disposal.

There is much more to professional level type than knowing how many spaces to type after a period and all the other typographic rules we covered in issue number four.

This issue deals with what you need to know to create all those little symbols, and punctuation marks that are most commonly used in documents.

For a more in-depth coverage, I refer you to my web site for further reading on this and many more topics of interest at www.mygraphicsnotebook.com

1. Hyphens (-)
Hyphens are used in three instances:

1. Combining words
2. Hyphenating words
3. Separating telephone numbers.

2. En dashes (–)
En dashes which is usually about the size of the letter “N” of the typeface you are using is used for separating ranges or duration. Trick: it’s used anytime you would use the word “to”. It is also used with compound adjectives.

3. Em dashes (—)
Em dashes are about twice the size of the en dash or it’s approximately the size of the letter “M” of your typeface. It’s used to separate phrases or thoughts.

4. Tick/hash marks (‘ and “)
Tick marks are used solely to represent measurements such as if denoting feet and inches.

5. Apostrophes (’)
Apostrophes which are really single right quotations are used:

1. To show possession (Maria’s)
2. For contractions (it’s, you’re)
3. When excluding letters (feelin’)

6. True Quotations ( “ & ”)
If there is one thing that will make you look like a professional is to never, ever use tick or hash marks. Use only real left and right quotation marks.

American: use double quotes.
British: use single quotes instead of double quotation marks.

7. True ellipsis (…)
Ellipsis are used when trailing a thought or when words have been omitted from a sentence. When using three periods (or ellipsis), always use the ellipsis symbol (…); and not three periods (...) Three periods quite simply don’t allow enough space in between the periods.

8. Copyright symbol (©)
There is actually a keyboard shortcut for the letter c with a circle around it. Used to replace “copyright” or “copr.” (abbreviation).

9. Registration symbol (®)
No need to create your own “Federal Registration” symbol, refer to my table below for the keyboard shortcut.

10. Registered symbol (™)
If the “Registered Trademark” symbol is needed, there’s also a keyboard shortcut rather than superscripting the TM.

To learn more

Good design is all about the details: no matter how small. To find out more on how I can provide you with a fresh perspective on your design challenges and get more done in less time, visit my web site www.mygraphicsnotebook.com or call me at 514 256-0134.

AT A GLANCE

What are special characters?

Special characters can fall under several categories: symbols, accents, and punctuation marks.

Used correctly they give a professional look to any document.

Correct usage of punctuation marks, symbols, and accents give your documents a very sophisticated and professional edge.

TIPS

A.M. & P.M.
Use small caps for the letters and separate by periods

FRACTIONS:

For the numerator: a superscript or decrease it to 1/2 the size of the font and then shift the baseline up.

For the denomiator: about 1/2 the size of the font. Then you kern the whole to a desired amount.

CONTACT INFO

Maria G. Nozza
5785 Brunetiere
Montreal, QC
H1S 1B5 CA

Telephone:
514 256-0134

Email:
mgnozza@mac.com