Type basics

Plex® has been designed to not be spaced tightly. It requires space to breathe comfortably within text and headlines. It’s lighter in appearance and is more legible when spaced appropriately.

Flush left creates strong alignments for the eye to follow, aiding readability and organization. It is our standard for all typography across IBM because it is functional, modern, timeless and the most effective in information design and legibility.

Choosing the appropriate leading or line spacing is very important to the reading quality and and efficiency of the typography. It should never be to open or too tight which makes reading difficult and unpleasant for the reader.

The use of spacing and certain typographical devices are important to understanding and correct reading. The typographical details of correct punctuation aid in interpretation, division of text into sentences and clauses, and is critical to disambiguate the meaning of sentences.

Apostrophes indicate possession, for example, Harry’s book or the boys’ coats. They can also indicate the omission of letters or numbers. Primes are commonly used for minutes, seconds, feet, inches and degrees. Lucky for us, IBM Plex includes them. Many fonts don’t.

Use left and right “curly quotes” when quote marks are required. They are design sensitive, intended to match or blend within Plex. Avoid using “straight” quotes. These are a relic from the typewriter days, and a common error in modern typography.

The em dash is used to create a strong break in the structure of a sentence. Hyphens and en dashes are not appropriate alternatives for em dashes.

Some examples of correct use of hyphens and en dashes are shown here. An en dash is used to span or ranges of numbers (1945–1975) and the the hyphen is for compound terms (check-in).

The term “belt and suspenders” refers to using multiple styles to do the same thing in typography. IBM should always be essential, so keep styles to a minimum when emphasizing words in messaging.

Write content in sentence case. Title case can be used in proper titles, product names and service names. Avoid the use of all uppercase or “all caps” in your typography, especially for paragraphs or text.

Always look for opportunities to create improved rags, or ragged edges on the right margin. Watch out for orphans and widows and adjust line lengths with a writer to solve awkward breaks which can affect reading quality.

Whenever possible, left-align copy with other copy, even when it’s in a container element. This creates a strong vertical alignment with the text, adding in legibility, organization and clarity for a user.

Line length is based on character or word count per line and is determined by the amount of copy being used. It’s important not to create long lines of text for a reader. Short and efficient line lengths are easier to read.

Consider adding extra-padding-right in a container to preserve openness in the typography. This prevents text from going edge to edge in a container, and helps the reader.

Headlines are preferred Stack headlines into two or even three lines versus keeping them in one long line. This helps create a compact reading unit for the headline, and can help control or avoid widows.

Examples of how to differentiate titles and subtitles by weight or contrast change are shown here. It’s important to keep it simple and not create titles that are too long.