#lang pollen

◊(define-meta title "contracts")
◊hanging-topic[(topic-from-metas metas)]{Use more white space; consider columns}


Whether it’s a settlement agreement in PDF, a commercial lease on paper, or a terms-of-service agreement on a website, contracts are a diverse class of documents. Therefore, my typographic advice is more a principle than a prescription.

Let’s move past the self-serving myth that typography in contracts doesn’t matter because people ◊em{must} read them. Wrong. As I said in ◊xref{why does typography matter}, readers are always looking for the exit. So the most we can say is that people are ◊em{supposed} to read contracts. As writers, we can encourage them. But can we force them? No way.

In fact, it would be wiser for drafters to assume that ◊strong{most contracts go unread}. Why? Because no one wants to read a contract. And most contracts are poorly designed. Therefore, it doesn’t matter that people must read them. At best, they’re reading opportunistically. At worst, not at all.

For instance, the other day, a certain music service made me promise that I had read their 20,551-word contract — 3,276 in ◊xref{all caps} — before I could buy a $1.29 song. What do you think I actually did? Right. What would you do? The same thing. And everyone else? They’re no different.

◊before-and-after-pdfs["contract"]