Serif, apex, and type, oh my!

Until today I had no idea how much I could enjoy learning about the elements of design. In fact, before this morning, I knew nothing other than the definition of "sans serif." Now I feel armed with the necessary language to talk to my student about what elements of design work and what elements of design don't.  Here is a small sample from my upcoming Design Dictionary:

• Hyphenation Setting: The setting where you can prevent your deck from hyphenating the words at the end of every line. 
• Color: The thing you should use as an accent, not as a background.
• Headline: Those large words at the top of the page that you need to kern, not stretch or pull or otherwise manipulate.
• Font: The style of type you choose. You will not choose Hobo or other fonts not in our publications guidelines. 
• Photo: Usually the dominant element on the page. (Note: You should have a good photo that pays attention to light, composition, and emotion.)
• Newseum.com and Newspaperdesigner.org: Places to look for inspiration.
• Sherpa: The designer who uses appropriate design elements to guide the reader's eye down the page.
• Red Tie Issue: Design elements that some people will like and others will not. (Note: If you and I encounter a red tie issue, my opinion trumps yours.)
• Tracy Collins: An amazing designer who offered to critique our page design so we best listen to what he has to say!

Kari Koshiol

Benilde-St. Margaret's

Minneapolis, Minnesota