Last week we got into a little discussion over hanging bullets in a list. I generally fall on the side that bullets, like other punctuation, should be hung. This comes from my background in print and having worked with a couple of art directors that drilled it into me on my first job. However, could (and should) these typographic traditions be applied to the web?
Before we get into hanging bullets lets talk a little about hanging punctuation in general. There are two main reasons for hanging bullets and other punctuation in print: improved aesthetics through a strong edge and improved readability.
The most cited justification for hanging bullets, and other punctuation, is optical alignment. When setting type we strive for a strong clean edge. Punctuation marks are lighter in weight than other letters with a fair amount of empty space around them. This is why the alignment appears to brake when punctuation is on the justified edge. By hanging the punctuation in the margin the optical alignment is fixed and improves the aesthetics of the copy.
Hanging punctuation also improves the readability of copy. As mentioned above, punctuation has less weight than letters. The lack of heft creates an unintended indent when they appear at the beginning of a line, causing the reader to pause mid sentence. Hardly the desired effect. Hanging the punctuation fixes this and keeps the reader moving through the text without interruption.
These are great for print where long passages of text is the norm. But, reading and writing for the web is very different. We all know that people scan when reading on the web. Long passages of text aren’t appropriate to this medium. So, text is chunked to allow for quick comprehension. List are also used more frequently as well to get quick points across.
To this end, hanging bullets seems counter productive to the web’s quick reading style. Lists are highlighted points that should be recognized. Forcing the reader to pause slightly, by not hanging the bullets, adds emphasis to the points being made. If they were hung, readers might glance over them and miss important information.
Writing this post has caused a shift in thinking for me. I had intended on validating the need to hang bullets when I started doing research. However, I found that it was my treatment of bulleted lists that needed to change, not the other way around. As we move towards better typography on the web, print traditions need to be reevaluated to see if they hold up rather than blindly implementing them.
My personal opinion is that it depends on the nature of the content of the bulleted item. If the text is intended to be read in flow with the paragraph content of the peice, then I think hanging is the right option. If, on the other hand, you want the reader to stop and think, “okay, point one of the bulleted list” before continuing, then don’t hang them.
Like most things, context matters.
I think it’s definitely a matter of context. In a manuscript context, you generally have a nice wide margin on the left because of the nature of bound material - you need to reserve that space so the content doesn’t get lost the binding. Hanging bullets and numbers work really well in that context, as do sidenotes and page numbers.
On the web, you don’t really have that built-in space, and it’s often difficult to reserve that much space within a layout just for margin. Personally, I’m not a fan of the ragged edge you get with hanging punctuation, even though the type itself is aligned. Indenting lists is just as valid typographically as hanging punctuation, as long as you add horizontal and vertical space consistently with other indented matter, like blockquotes. And for me it just feels right in the context of the web.
For some visual examples, and opinion, check out Mark Boulton’s excellent <a href=”http://www.markboulton.co.uk/journal/comments/five_simple_steps_to_better_typography_part_2/” rel=”nofollow”>5 Simple Steps to Better Typography</a> series.
Perhaps your article would be better illustrated with pictures. I had to look up what “hanging” meant, and even so it is hard for me to visualize the point of this post. Thanks!
RR Anderson is correct - this should have examples, à la A List Apart articles.
Bullets don’t need to be hung on the web as we can effectively blockquote the whole affair and avoid the issue altogether by creating a different look and top margin and bottom margin for our various lists.
Type should be readable and look good. First readability and then aesthetics. And lists which are set apart look best.
We recently ran into the <a href=”http://foliovision.com/services/” rel=”nofollow”>bullets issue</a> and solved it without hanging.
No lynchings and no cruelty to animals either. Very violent post here, all this talk of hanging and bullets.
I am a typesetter of 25+ years and have hung and not hung bullets based on the designers preference I am working with.
I feel very strongly about NOT hanging bullets in running text. Bullets are a part of what is considered an outline. In hanging bullets you defeat the purpose and confuse the reader. And what if you have a point that falls under the bulleted item using an en dash or such? It creates an odd senario. Further, in a lot of layouts I work with I have a 2 column grid whereas the left column has heads and/or sidebars in them and a wider column on right has body. By hanging bullets here you crash into the type in the left column causing more of a problem than the lack of a hard left edge.
I do support hanging punctuation in heads, but not in all cases.