Non-Designer’s Type Book, The, Second Edition

5. Most Fun Trend: Breaking the Rules

Breaking the rules of design. Big deal. “I do it everyday,” you say. That’s partly because the rules are fairly subjective and trying to agree on exactly what the rules are could cause a Holy Graphics War. Going out on a graphic limb or out on a design ledge is pretty common, even encouraged. The rules I’m talking about are the untouchable sacred cows of legibility and readability. If there’s one rule that I made sure I never broke, it was this one: no matter how wild and unorthodox the design, you had to be able at least to read the copy. Ah, those were the good old days. Fortunately, not many designers are feeling compelled to carry their desktop creations this far. But on the other hand, there are enough ...