Ilene:

I enjoy your columns very much.

A subject that I'd like to see addressed is typography for business use -- letters, contracts, etc.

There are many articles on typography for designers and for typesetting books, etc., but I do not see articles on proper typography for business documents, probably because business people do not seek out typography information. The result is that most business documents are composed using typewriter rules -- half inch indents, put in a blank paragraph between paragraphs (even though Word has long supported space before and after paragraphs), two spaces after a period, etc.

Word 2010 is about to be released. It provides new support for tracking, kerning, OpenType features, etc., thus for the first time making (somewhat crude versions of) the tools long available in publishing programs more readily available to those using word processors. It thus seems to be a good time for people experienced in typography to consider addressing considerations specific to business documents with longer line lengths than typically found in books.

Among issues I'd like to see considered are:

1. Suitable typefaces: Most business people use Times New Roman because it was one of the first typefaces available on HP Laser Printers and later with Windows 3.1. Should they be considering a Garamond, or perhaps some of Microsoft's new fonts such as Constantia?

2. Is it appropriate to begin paragraphs with an M-space indent, such as is customarily used in books, or does the longer line length make a bigger indent, such as 0.5" appropriate? Books do not customarily use both indents and blank vertical spaces between paragraphs. Is is appropriate to do so in business correspondence with roughly 6.5 inch lines of type?

3. What else can people composing letters do to improve readability?

Thanks.

John Hoffman