Do you know where this little ‘&’ symbol—aka the ampersand—comes from? It’s actually the 27th letter of the alphabet! And it has appropriate times & places for its use.
Back in the day (first century Rome) scribes used to write in cursive. They gradually began to combine the letters of the Latin word for ‘and’ (et) together to look something like this: &. It carried over into English and became part of the alphabet. When children were forced to recite the alphabet they would say x, y, z, and per se and. Meaning: and per se (by itself) and. This then got all slurred together to give the symbol its current name: ampersand.
But when and where do we use it? There are a few common usage rules for when to use “&”. It should not normally be used in regular sentences to replace the word “and”.
Here’s where you can use it:
When you are tying two items together, when they could stand on their own:
”Client signature for approval of proposed services & fees.”
In lists in which items have a two-part name. For example:
”The deli offered peanut butter & jelly, turkey & Swiss and ham & cheddar sandwiches.”
In logos and titles (i.e. Barnes & Noble).
In short phrases and names (the names when used in addresses or when there are multiple authors of a screenplay or book.)
In places where space is limited, such as Twitter or charts and graphs.
So I would say use ‘&’ for tying similar items together, some types of lists and short phrases but use ‘and’ for proper nouns (i.e. “Use the drawings for permitting and contractor reference.”) unless it’s describing co-authors or it’s the title of a company.
It does seem to be a favorite among graphic designers, and you can even find whole websites dedicated to its design: http://ampersandampersand.tumblr.com/