Kris 𐫱 Imprimatur.studio

Calm copywriter and typographic designer. Making beautiful publications & crafting compelling stories for discerning brands. Thinking about typefaces.

[Kris 𐫱 Imprimatur.studio @multipleks]

Are you or someone you know reasonably interested in typography, fonts, graphic design, books and so on?

Welcome to the online community Typographic North!
https://t.co/x9VupBbjes

There, we discuss these matters and learn from each other. Welcome!

#typography

[Kris 𐫱 Imprimatur.studio @multipleks]

Often, it’s apparent what is right and what is wrong, so I just take care of it. Other times it’s a stylistic choice that we’ll discuss. Either way, this is part of the invisible work which is raising the standards in the designs that come out the other end.

[Kris 𐫱 Imprimatur.studio @multipleks]

I spend hours every week looking at text on a page.

My aim is to make sure the text reads well and doesn’t bother the reader in unforeseen ways. I’m paid to design a publication, make it look professional, making sure the files are ready for print or for digital distribution.

[Kris 𐫱 Imprimatur.studio @multipleks]

I clean up all this. Not because I’ve been asked to, but because when someone hires me, I’m making sure that the final deliverable is as consistent and precise as a seasoned reader would expect and appreciate.

[Kris 𐫱 Imprimatur.studio @multipleks]

@jasoncfox Consume, learn and then do. Most people just consume.

[Kris 𐫱 Imprimatur.studio @multipleks]

Sometimes it reads like poetry.

Mostly it is condescending to the reader.

[Kris 𐫱 Imprimatur.studio @multipleks]

Not all

texts

need to be

skimmable

but modern copywriting

seem to lean

on this form of

communication

HEAVILY.

[Kris 𐫱 Imprimatur.studio @multipleks]

In programming, we're seeing developers findingCreativeWays_to_separate_words without spaces.

But I still think having some space between words is a superior idea.

#typography

https://t.co/ksgPasHTSZ

[Kris 𐫱 Imprimatur.studio @multipleks]

Thai, Lao, and Khmer languages don't use spaces between words even today. Japanese and Chinese don't require spaces since each character represents a complete morpheme.

#typography

[Kris 𐫱 Imprimatur.studio @multipleks]

Here are some more examples of continuous writing:

https://t.co/ksgPasHm3r

[Kris 𐫱 Imprimatur.studio @multipleks]

Rökstenen – The Rök stone – is inscribed with runes. The longest known runic inscription in stone, actually. It’s encrypted in language as well as in letters. Adding to the deciphering challenges is the fact that it is all written in scriptio continua – continuous writing.

[Kris 𐫱 Imprimatur.studio @multipleks]

Having no spaces between the individual letters, distinguishing one word from the next is not an easy task for the inexperienced.

Let’s appreciate the invention of word spacing, making reading easier for us all.

#typography

[Kris 𐫱 Imprimatur.studio @multipleks]

@topresch That’s a depressing thought experiment. I’m glad to see any piece of the puzzle see the light of day.

[Kris 𐫱 Imprimatur.studio @multipleks]

Researchers have found even older alphabetic writing in a tomb from Syria:

"The writing, which is dated to around 2400 BCE, precedes other known alphabetic scripts by roughly 500 years, upending what archaeologists know about where alphabets came from…"

https://t.co/pOGYhRkGyu

[Kris 𐫱 Imprimatur.studio @multipleks]

I’ve shared some thoughts on how nice it is to have some space between words, making texts easier to read. Word spacing hasn’t always been a convention.
NEQVEPORROQVISQVAMESTQVIDOLOREMIPSVMQVIADOLORSITAMETCONSECTETVRADIPISCIVELIT
https://t.co/ksgPasHTSZ

[Kris 𐫱 Imprimatur.studio @multipleks]

Sometimes I write about these sorts of things: https://t.co/iJvMEGDqQN

[Kris 𐫱 Imprimatur.studio @multipleks]

NEQVEPORROQVISQVAMEST (Cicero, 45 BC)

Or: Neque porro quisquam est (modernised)

Readers don't read letter by letter – we recognise whole words at once. So the spaces between the words matter.

But spaces are a modern invention.

[Kris 𐫱 Imprimatur.studio @multipleks]

Irish monks introduced spaces between words in Latin texts around the 7th–8th centuries.

Let’s appreciate those invisible parts of the text image that make reading a lot easier today.