THE NON-DESIGNER'S TYPE BOOK

Guidelines for using swashes

There are a few guidelines to remember when working with swash
characters:

* Please, don't ever set text in aU capital swash characters.
OíKMYc^ClOUS'TVÍlSLOO^SOS'PUVlT)^
Besides looking stupid, it is also dreadfuUy difficult to read.

* Swashes are designed to add elegant curves to otherwise empty spaces,
such as under or over letters, or at the ends of sentences. So don't
insert the kind of swash in the middle of a word that creates an
unsightly gap, or even at the end of a word in mid-sentence if it
disturbs the word spacing.

He^r speMaJty-Was arualyzin-g gobfiris.

* In a typeface that imitates handwriting, swash characters can add
to the effect of a personalized note, making it look handlettered.
Below, the typeface General Menou includes many alternate and
swash characters (notice the alternate characters for d, s, e, and g,
among others). But don't limit a handlettered face such as this to
only personal notes! General Menou is so beautiful it could easily
be used for any elegant occasion.

LJ eo/i/ ^_yWl/My/

tiò илш ион. J/J/wfv uoit/ сснш) (шлле/ ѵімлм/ѵ w-lxk/
MMLi tv-vdakb ext /ImmcIw- ѵь Сіъіѵѵишо-, witfi/ ueáje/it
VW flHH-tb of tfl£/ JUXSj UAW tfv£/ JVUHAA- fulíivuj o-utowe/.

JjyWj, lb.

23: SWASH CHARACTERS

* If you are going to use another typeface on the same page as the
swash face, be very careful. Avoid faces with similar characteristics,
such as any other itaUc or script. Either stay in the same family,
such as the Zapf Renaissance family, or choose a font that has
strong contrasts (such as thicker strokes or a roman or sans serif
or monoweight font).

* Don't overdo the number of swashes. As you've seen, the swash
characters add elegance only if they are used with discretion.

* It helps to have a utiUty such as the control panel PopChar, available
for the Mac in a free version or in a shareware version. Download

it from the web at www.shareware.com. Or use Adobe's KeyCap.
On a PC, use the Character Map. See Appendix С for details about
where to get these items and how to use them.