PROPORTION
(As having no part of a letter wrongly exaggerated or dwarfed—see pp. [274], [277]–[78])
The right proportioning of letters entails the preservation of their Essential Forms and their Characteristic Parts, and, provided these are not [p252] seriously interfered with, a certain amount of exaggeration (and dwarfing)[55] is allowable in special cases; particularly in ornamental writings, and Pen-flourished capitals or terminal letters (see figs. [79] and [125]).
Rational exaggeration usually amounts to the drawing out or flourishing of tails or free stems, or branches—very often to the magnifying of a characteristic part (see fig. [150], & pp. [250], [331]). It is a special form of decoration, and very effective if used discriminately.
BEAUTY OF FORM (As having beautiful shapes and constructions, so that each letter is an individual and living whole (not a mere collection of parts) fitted for the position, office, and material of the object bearing the inscription)
To choose or construct beautiful forms requires good taste, and that in its turn requires cultivation, which comes from the observation of beautiful forms. Those who are not accustomed to seeing beautiful things are, in consequence, often uncertain whether they think a thing beautiful or not. Some—perhaps all of us—have an intuition for what is beautiful; but most of us have to achieve beauty by taking pains.
At the least we are apt to be misled if we label abstract forms as essentially beautiful or essentially ugly—as by a mistaken recipe for beauty. For us as craftsmen “achieving beauty by taking pains,” means acquiring skill in a special craft and [p253] adapting that skill to a special piece of work. And perhaps the surest way to learn, is to let our tools and materials teach us and, as it were, make beautiful shapes for us.