One design-oriented set of tips that actually might be quite useful for self-publishers and independent publishing houses is the “10 Commandments of Typography” shared by Yardley, PA, logo and graphic design studio Designmantic. Their visual breakdown of Typography 101 (or in this instance, 10.1) could make a great deal of difference to the font choices and internal layout of a self-published book, as well as to the cover design.
For instance, the sixth commandment – “stick to two fonts. Only go for three if you must” – could lead to far fewer eye-straining design excesses. And the seventh – “don’t mix different moods” ought to be a no-brainer, except that it seems to end up being violated so often.
I could happily endorse all ten of the commandments except one. Almost every rule exists to be broken, and surely somewhere in the world there must be a place for Comic Sans? That aside, it’s a handy, easily digestible guide to avoiding some of the most obvious typographic errors, and a good standby for the self-publishing community.
