"You have my lasting thanks not only for what you've done for our paper but also for how much you have helped me. I wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors, though I know luck will have nothing to do with it." — Mike Dowty, Managing Editor, The Livingston Parish News

THE HENNINGER HELPFUL HINT
Quick hits, secrets and shortcuts to help designers. We'll keep about a dozen or so here for you.

Writing them right
Decide headline size before you write the headline.

Headlines from hell
Just how many lines of headline does it take?

Behind the curve
Ovals were a big fad...for two or three years. I'm not a fan of fads.

Continued on... er... uhhh...
So...you've set up your jumps so they always go to the back page. You sure about that?

Over the top?
Overlines on heads: Why?

Ridin' sidesaddle
Side captions are overused—but they do have their place.

Puttin' on some weight
Fonts of varying weights can help with headline hierarchy.

An oversimplification
Yes, italics can be hard to read. No, not always.

Say, whut?
Typography sooooo bizarre it's hard to imagine.

Do the math
Make 50 percent more from your classifieds? Easy!

Where readers look for captions
Place your caption where they're likely to go.

Centering on the problem
Centered type may be pretty but it's tough to read.

The look of the weather
Rid your weather package of cutesy-artsy logos.

The shape of pie
Giving a pie chart a look that offers more impact.