Stupid Questions from the Boss

2. Why cant we underline that copy and put a bunch

of exclamation points after it?

effective to use reverse type for a headline, but this normally

demands special handling to make it work at all.

When faced with questions from an uninformed supervisor, you may need to do a little
hand-holding. Here is a fresh, bakers dozen answers to common typographic queries.

You think: The habit of underlining words to make them stand

out went away when typewriters became an endangered species, and no one (except a text-messaging teenager) hits the
exclamation key more than once.

5. My nephew (or replace with any close relative) is

pretty good with art, and he says

by Allan Haley

Its

easy to be an accountant. All you need is a computer

and a copy of Excel. Try telling that to the people
in your companys financial department. And yet, with the
accessibility of desktop publishing, everyone seems to think
he is a designerespecially bosses. Too often, otherwise reasonable bosses seem to go out of their way to question and
critique design work. The challenge you face is: How do you
concisely explain the principles of good design that are second
nature to you, but may seem arbitrary to your boss?

Although you cant change your boss craving to question your

work, you can control how you respond to her. You can also
use this as an opportunity to educate herand to reaffirm why
she was so smart to hire you.

Smart Strategies
A couple of strategies can help you with this process:
Remember, you are the expert.
Be businesslike around businesspeople.
Anticipate questions.
Be able to justify your decisions.

Youre the expert

Keep in mind your boss is the one who controls your paycheck, but
also remember you have your job because of your graphic design
skills. Unless your boss is a designer as well, she is probably
just expressing her opinion when challenging your work. All
large projects should have a design brief; for smaller projects,
you and your boss should have at least a verbal understanding
of the projects scope. Once an approach is agreed to, though,
the execution is your job alone. Bosses may have free reign to
challenge the conceptbut not the execution.

Be businesslike
Bosses tend to be businesspeople, and by definition they have more
power than you. Treat yours with respect. Even if you think
her suggestion to set the company quarterly report in Hobo is
laughabledont. Handle every question, every suggestionno
matter how silly or ill-informedwith respect. Look upon the
questions as an opportunity to educate your boss. If you are
successful over time, you may find the challenges diminish.

Anticipate questions
If your boss regularly challenges your typeface selections, be ready.
If you make a typographic design decision you think may be
questioned, have your rationale ready. If you try something
new, prepare to be challenged. The first step in dealing with
design questions from your boss is to anticipate them.

Justify your decisions

The corollary to anticipating the questions is having the answers. Have a good reason for choosing the typeface you did
and because I like it isnt good enough. If you chose to
use an en dash instead of an em dash, have a sound reason. If
you used Old Style numbers in text copy, have the justification
handy. If your choice is based on sound typographic principles
rather than on personal taste, your boss will probably be satisfied with the answer.

13 Quick Answers
Justifying your decisions can be quite challenging; you may not
have a quick explanation for each of your choices. You may
intuitively know that rag-right copy is almost always better
than justified columns of text, but may not know exactly why
other than most of the time it just looks better. And it just
looks better is never a good enough answer for a boss. Try to
seize the opportunity: Heres your chance to elucidate some
fundamentals of good design that may not be obvious to your
boss. What follows are quick answers to some of the most
frequently asked typographic design questions. Using them
may not answer all your boss questionsbut they may be able
to take some of the heat off your next project presentation.

1. Why cant we put all of the information on one slide?

You think: Only poor presenters cram slides with copy so they
wont have to think on their feet.
A better answer might be: Too much information on a slide will
make the text difficult to read and detract from the effectiveness
of the presentation. Slides should illustrate and emphasize the
speakers points and provide the highlights and takeaways of
the presentation. Slides that are cluttered, have more than five
bullet points or have long lines of copy do little to highlight,
emphasize or illustrate the speakers statements.

A better answer might be: Underlining distracts the reader. It

introduces another graphic element to the letterforms, and it
forces the reader to read one word at a time, rather than groups
of words. Using bold type, a
different typestyle or setting
the type larger
than the surrounding copy are better ways to emphasize a
point. Underlining was the only way to emphasize copy with
a typewriter. It made things stand out because it was different. Good typography makes a point without disrupting the
communication process.

You think: Oh boy, here comes trouble. Ill never hear the end of
her nephew, the artist.
A better way to look at it might be: This can be the beginning of
a variety of challenges to your work. Handling a situation like
this calls for tact
and diplomacy.
A two-part approach is usually
the best. First,
validate your boss assessment of her nephews talents. How
exciting to have an artist in the family. Then, as a separate comment, explain your reasoning for the design choices you made.

Its not an all-you-can-eat buffet.

Leave some room for the type to breathe.

Old-time printers called exclamation points screamers. Consider the decibel level of several of these punctuation marks.
Sometimes it is important to shout in copybut screaming is
rarely effective. Using more than one exclamation point impedes
communication, just as screaming does.

6. My daughter (again, replace with the relative of

choice) gave me this great font. How about we use it?
You think: Not on my watch! Who knows what it might do to
my computer.

3. But I think we should use a lot of fonts; we bought

them, didnt we?

A better answer might be: It is never a good idea to use fonts

from outside sources. A company needs to be sure it owns a
license for any font software it uses, and its usage must be in
compliance with the license. Without proper licenses, a firm
exposes itself to the possibility of copyright infringement. This
could result in significant financial liabilityeven bankruptcy.

You think: Sure, if we want our annual report to look like a circus
poster.

7. Cant we set it all in italics? Italics are so beautiful.

A better answer might be: Using too many fonts calls attention
to the messenger instead of the message. A jumble of fonts
disrupts the hierarchy of the document. For about 90 percent
of documents, four fonts should suffice. One font is usually
appropriate for both headlines and subheads. For text copy, use
one basic text face, then use the bold version of the face for
emphasis and italic for special situations, such as book titles and
foreign phrases. Using more faces creates typographic clutter.

You think: This is supposed to be a brochure for a gutter-sweeping

robotand you want pretty?
A better answer might be: Italics should be used sparingly. Italic
type is about 14 percent more difficult to read than roman type.
One or two words in italic type stand out without jarring the
reader. A sentence set in italic can become more of a distraction than an emphasis, and an entire italic paragraph can be
downright difficult to read.

4. Why cant we use white type against a dark background?

8. Why cant we use (fill in the inappropriate or hackneyed typeface of your choice) for this project?

You think: Reversing type out of a dark background is about as

sound an idea as skating on pond ice in April.

You think: Sure, and Ill get laughed out of my next AIGA meeting.

A better answer might be: Reverse type is harder to read than dark
type against a light background, and studies have also shown
readers dont like to read reverse type. It can sometimes be

Better answers might be: Because the typeface is not appropriate

for our message or readership. The design is overused, and
therefore will not differentiate us from the competition. The
typeface is not intended for long blocks of copy.

9. Why cant we try something other than the corporate

font? I never did like it.

13. Why is there so much blank space? Isnt that a

waste of paper?

You think: Another boss, trying to make his mark

You think: Its not an all-you-can-eat buffet. Leave some room for
the type to breathe.

A better answer might be: Corporate fonts build brand identity.

They help distinguish our company from the competition.
Deviating from corporate fonts can confuse the reader and
erode brand identity.

A better answer might be: For a page design to be effective, it needs

to have a balance of type, illustration and space. If the copy
is too dense, it will be both unattractive and difficult to read.

And/or: We paid plenty of money for our identity program and

the fonts that are part of it. We should take full advantage
of the investment. (Bosses almost always like answers that
demonstrate fiscal prudence and efficiency.)

10. Why cant we put the text copy in color?

You think: Because itll look cheesy and amateurish.
A better answer might be: Type printed in color will not have
the same impact as type printed in black. Good typographic
communication calls for a strong contrast between the words
and the background. This is especially true for type at small
sizes. To be most effective and easiest to read, words need to
stand out from the background. And, no matter how bright it
is, any color is paler than black.

Reversing type out of

a dark background
is about as sound an
idea as skating on
pond ice in April.

11. Why cant we set this in all caps?

You think: Only if I want to replicate Trajans Column

More Questions?
A better answer might be: More than 95 percent of the type we
read is in lowercase composition. As a result, we are much
more familiar with reading these characters. Headlines set in
lowercase take up less space than headlines set in all capitals
up to 30 percent less space. Not only is page and screen real
estate used more efficiently when using upper- and lowercase,
but fewer eye movements are required to take in the same
amount of information.

12. Can we put a fancy border around that part to make

it stand out more?
You think: Fancy borders are for scrapbooksnot business proposals.
A better answer might be: The most inviting, the most reader-friendly and the most direct typography is the simplest typography. Type and image are the two most important elements
of graphic communication. Lines, borders and other fancy bits
almost always distract readers instead of helping them.

If you are plagued by other typographic challenges from your boss,

write to me at allan.haley@fonts.com, and I will be happy to
respond. And even if it is the same answer you might give, the
old adagean outside consultant is almost always listened
to more than a long-time employeecan work in your favor.
The answer to the rag-right question? There is nothing inherently wrong with either rag-right or justified copy. But using
justified copyespecially in short measuresmakes it much
more difficult to maintain tight, even word spacing. Excessive
and uneven word space breaks copy into separate elements,
thereby forcing the reader to read individual words, rather
than phrases or blocks of copy.

About the author

Allan Haley is the director of Words & Letters at Monotype Imaging.
He is chairperson of AIGA Typography and a past president
of the New York Type Directors Club.