Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
a space to separate this grouping from another, may imply that the two groups are un-
related, or it may signal a pause for the reader to assimilate the content of one grouping
before proceeding to the next. Keeping consistent spaces between groups that are re-
lated in meaning, and increasing the space between groups that are unrelated in mean-
ing, is an easy way of helping readers navigate among more general sections of inform-
ation and among subgroups of information within those sections. Sometimes it is diffi-
cult to remember that type is just a collection of lines, dots and shapes, and that they be-
have in the same way their simplified components do. Integrating such visual forms can
also enhance hierarchy and clarify navigation through text. The focal power of a dot,
which defines a location in space, can indicate the beginning or ending point of a text
element (for example, using bullets to call out items in a list), correspond to alignments,
activate spaces within a composition, and separate informational material linguistically,
like an exaggerated form of punctuation. Lines, too, can perform a variety of useful
functions to enhance hierarchy and navigation: separating, enclosing, emphasizing, cre-
ating, or augmenting structural relationships, and activating space. Lines themselves are
visually similar to lines of type, and relationships of contrast—in weight, solidity, rel-
ative length, and so on—operate the same way between them as they do among lines
of type. Horizontal and vertical line configurations visually correspond to this intrinsic
quality of text. Lines that are angled, curved, or wavy starkly contrast this “orthogon-
al” logic. Geometric shapes, whose hard-edged quality can be visually similar to that of
letters, can act as inclusions or details among letters or words—as well as supports for
clusters of text, operating as fields upon which the type lies or passes between. Because
geometric shapes integrate so well with type forms, but retain their identity as images,
they can also be used to create visual links between type and other pictorial elements.
