Very early in his career Johnston drew up a table of the essential characteristics of good lettering: readableness, beauty, character (see page 239 in Writing and Illuminating and Lettering by Edward Johnston, Hogg, London 1906).

Towards the end of his life Johnston had distilled these characteristics further into three first principles. In its essential character formal penmanship has three fundamental qualities or first principles SHARPNESS , UNITY , FREEDOM .