Typography for lawyers/Typographie für Rechtsanwälte

From the website Typography for Lawyers:

Some lessons on this website will involve discretionary choices. This one is mandatory.

You must always put exactly one space between sentences.

I understand that many people were taught early in life to double-space their sentences. I was too. But double-spacing is a habit held over from the typewriter age. It has never been part of standard typography. Because typewriter fonts were unusually proportioned, a double space helped set off sentences better. Today, since we don’t use typewriter fonts, double spaces aren’t necessary or desirable.

Let’s see that paragraph again, but with double spaces:

I understand that many people were taught early in life to double-space their sentences. I was too. But double-spacing is a habit held over from the typewriter age. It has never been part of standard typography. Because typewriter fonts were unusually proportioned, a double space helped set off sentences better. Today, since we don’t use typewriter fonts, double spaces aren’t necessary or desirable.

Do you see the problem? The extra spaces between sentences disrupt the overall balance of white space in the paragraph.

You have to look at the website to see the difference!

(Via the (new) legal writer)

5 thoughts on “Typography for lawyers/Typographie für Rechtsanwälte

    • This came up on Twitter, via translateberlin, and it wasn’t till you mentioned that many Germans don’t know the situation that it occurred to me I ought to blog it.

  1. There is a fantastic awkward moment in a Charlie Rose (famous New York talk show host) interview with Gerhard Schr

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