72. THE NON-DESIGNER'S TYPE BOOK
Parentheses and hyphens
I'll bet it drives you nuts that the hyphens in phone numbers seem set too
low. And the parentheses around the area codes bump into the numbers,
which probably makes you crazy. You see, parentheses and hyphens are
designed to be used with lowercase letters, because that is where they
appear most of the time. So when these characters are used with all caps or
numbers, they appear to be low in relation to the taller size of the caps or
numbers. But, thank goodness, this can be fixed.
Below, I shifted the hyphen and the parentheses up a little higher until
they appeared to be centered—doesn't it look much better, more
consistent, in better balance? There is no scientific formula for the exact
placement—your eye is the judge. If it looks centered, it is. If it looks too
low, it is. If it looks too high, it is.
(707) 123-4567 (707)123-4567
The parentheses bump into the To make parentheses and hyphens
tops of the numbers, but hang appear to be in the correct position
below the bottoms. Also notice when you're working with caps or
how low the hyphen appears. numbers, raise them up a little.
The Cul-de-Sac reopens (dinner only)
THE CUL-DE-SAC REOPENS (DINNER ONLY)
THE CUL-DE-SAC REOPENS (DINNER ONLY)
Parentheses and hyphens are designed for lowercase letters, since that is
where they are used most often (as in the first line). If you use all caps
(second line), the hyphens and parentheses are too low. Raise them
higher off the baseline to make them appear centered (third line).
7 : WHEN TO SHIFT THAT BASELINE
73
Dingbats as bullets
Another occasion to take advantage of the baseline shift feature is when
using dingbats or ornaments. Suppose you have a list of items and you
really want to use a fancy dingbat from the Zapf Dingbats or Wingdings
font, instead of using the boring of round bullet (or—heaven forbid—a
hyphen). But the dingbat character is usually too big. When you reduce its
size, though, the dingbat is too low because the character is still sitting on
the baseline. So select the character and shift it up above the baseline.
Pick any three adjectives
that describe yourself:
• lovely
• surly
• ghastly
• womanly
• manly
• saintly
• ungodly
• stately
• sprightly
A. Choose a dingbat instead
of the dumb оГ bullet
Pick any three adjectives
that describe yourself:
T lovely
У surly
? womanly V manly ■> saintly * ungodly ♦ sprightly B. You have lots of dingbats to Pick any three adjectives t lovely t surly t ghastly t womanly t manly t saintly t ungodly t stately t sprightly С You can decrease the Pick any three adjectives ▼ lovely ▼ ghastly ▼ womanly ▼ manly ▼ saintly ▼ ungodly ▼ stately ▼ sprightly D. Raise the small dingbat
■ stately
choose from, but they are usually
too big. (Choose one dingbat.)
that describe yourself:
point size of the bullet,
but then it sits too low.
that describe yourself:
t surly
higher off the baseline.