Leading

The distance between lines of type. Set it tight and the text feels urgent; open it and the page begins to breathe. It is pacing, in typography.

Line spacing is the reader's walking pace. Tight leading compresses a text into urgency and mass; open leading slows it into air and consideration. Neither is correct in itself: the right value depends on the measure, the x-height and what the words are for.

Our rule of thumb: body text earns more room than the default, headlines less. Large type carries its own internal space, so its lines can nearly touch; small type needs the corridor between lines to keep the eye from slipping. When a page feels dense but nothing is wrong, leading is usually the quiet culprit.