58

THE NON-DESIGNER'S TYPE BOOK

When to hang it

Punctuation should always be hung when type is set aside from the main
body of text or when set large, as in a quotation, pull quote, headline,
poster, etc. If the type is set flush right, the periods or commas at the ends
of the lines should also be hung if they interrupt the right edge of the type.
(Except in very fine typography, punctuation in body text is usually not
hung because of the trouble it takes and because the interruption in the line
is not as significant when the type is small.)

"I'm laughing

at the thought

of you laughing,

and that's how laughing

never stops in this world."

Zorba the Greek

"I'm laughing

at the thought

of you laughing,

and that's how laughing

never stops in this world."

Zorba the Greek

I'm sure you agree that both of these pieces of type need the punctuation hung.

"I'm laughing
at the thought
of you laughing,
and that's how laughing
never stops in this world."

Zorba the Greek

"I'm laughing

at the thought

of you laughing,

and that's how laughing

never stops in this world."

Zorba the Greek

Oooh, look at those nice clean edges. The strength ofthat edge gives strength
to the page. Typeface is Eurostile Demi.

5 : HANG THAT PUNCTUATION

Optical alignment

The point of hanging the punctuation is to keep a strong left or right edge.
Often this means aligning the edge with a stem (vertical stroke) rather
than with a bar (horizontal stroke), as in the letter "T" Align the second
line of type with whatever is the strongest edge of the initial character you
see—remember, your eye is always right! If it doesn't look aligned, it isn't.
You might have to align with the bottom point of the capital "V," or just
inside the outside curve of an "O." Whichever part of the letter is the
closest or most obvious visual connection, align with it. This is called
"optical alignment" because you are not aligning by a ruler, but by your eye.

'You believe easily
that which you
pope for earnestly."

Terence

Even though the top edge of the
letter "Y" is aligned with the
second line of type, it still appears
to be indented. That's because our
eyes see the vertical stem of the "Y,"
rather than the top angle, much
more closely related to the "t."
Typeface is Eurostile Demi.

"You believe easily
that which you
pope for earnestly."

Terence

Above, the stem of the "Y" is
aligned with the "t. " This is
an optical alignment rather
than a measured alignment.