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a 10th typo peeve
I'm surprised he didn't specify that in good typography there is only one space after a period. I hate having to search them all out when I place text into a document. But--EXCELLENT article. Always good to have reinforcement of things you already do right, as well as tidbits of new information! Thank you.
A few quibbles
The author recommends using discretionary hyphens in case of text reflow. For the same reason, I prefer to use a non-breaking space to tie words together when fixing a dirty rag. Forced line returns must be individually stripped out if text reflows subsequent to editing or layout changes.
The author forgot to mention one of the great guidelines of typography. A column of type that is 39 to 52 characters wide is short enough to make it easy for the reader's eye to find the beginning of the next line, but wide enough for flexibility in hyphenation and justification.
Quibbles aside, the author deserves credit for pointing out common errors committed by countless designers who have virtually no knowledge of the craft of typography.
some good advice, some bad
Paying attention to how type flows is important, and this article contains some good advice. But it also contains one howler.
In the examples shown under "too much air," both are ghastly, but the "before" is WORSE than the "after." Tracking should never be changed capriciously in text type. Ttry shrinking the word spaces first. And hyphenate wherever you can -- ANY word can be broken, definitely including names, as long as the result isn't misleading.
Better yet: don't let images intrude into the text block like this, making some of the text lines too short. This is the sign of someone more in love with his or her layout than with the words -- or with the reader.
There are some other debatable bits of advice here -- paragraph "orphans" are a minor vice at worst -- but also some excellent ones. As the author says, you'll never get everything perfect; you just have to decide which compromise is less bad -- less distracting to the reader. Ultimately, it's all about paying attention.
John D. Berry