Typography
Placeholder copy. One family, a short scale, and a rule about when to stop. Type does most of the work in this system.
The cuts
Three cuts, and no fourth. Each one sits on its own ground so the letterforms have an edge to read against — a type sample on white has nothing holding it.
Scale
Four steps. Anything between them is a mistake, not a nuance. Tracking tightens as the size grows; below 16px nothing is set at all.
Setting
Tracking, leading, and measure.
Placeholder. Display and Statement are set tight — around −0.025em. Body is set at default tracking and a measure of 60 to 75 characters.
Leading tightens as the size grows
- Display — 100%
- Statement — 105%
- Heading — 120%
- Body — 130%
What not to do
- No letterspaced lowercase
- No all-caps body copy
- No centred paragraphs longer than two lines
Pairing
There is no second typeface.
Weight, not family
Contrast comes from weight and size. Adding a second family is how systems come apart.
Numbers
Tabular figures wherever numbers change in place — prices, data, counters.