Basic Design Principles: Things I took note of

Because I had an introductory design course before, I was afraid this week’s readings would bore me with the same old principles. But I enjoyed these chapters. Here are some of the techniques suggested in the readings that I have never used before or found particularly useful:
1. Using an enlarged comma that matches the background to add some space between the lines--Ch. 6, bottom of p.112. (I used to add a line and then reduce the line space to 4 pt to achieve the same effect.)
2. Never using straight apostrophes and quotes--Ch. 8, p. 147. (I used to think straight apostrophes look cool. Why are they considered unprofessional?)
3. Creating a webpage that would be 640 x 460 pixels in size.

These chapters barely mention the recommendation to use as few typefaces as possible throughout the page (something I find very hard to do with so many options out there!), but apart from this, they serve as a decent guide to creating a website.