Notes on typographic rhythm
Line height, measure, and the space between headings — the three dials that matter most.
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Three dials control almost all of a page’s reading comfort. Everything else is preference.
Setting the baseline
Start at 1.7 line height for body copy and leave it alone. Tighten headings instead — they are short enough that generous leading only makes them feel unmoored.
Measure
Sixty to seventy-five characters. Wider and the eye loses the return sweep; narrower and every paragraph turns into a column of fragments.
Space above a heading belongs to the section it opens, not the one it closes.
Working notes
Give a heading roughly three times more space above than below, and the page groups itself without a single rule or box.
