Firefox 3 gets big kudos for its incorporation of kerning and basic ligatures in the new version of the browser. However, these improvements are negated by the fact that it also enables discretionary ligatures by default, which is likely to destroy the look of pages rendered in certain typefaces. Visit site »
Chad’s got a nice post showcasing several great examples of web typography. His selections are definitely good, but it’s worth pointing out that they’re almost exclusively examples of great display type on the web. Very little body type is showcased here. Visit site »
Jon has a nice piece on the paragraph and how to appropriately use it on the web. It’s an important topic and one I spend a decent amount of time on in my usual typography talk when I speak at events. Far too often, people think typography is all about picking typefaces; Jon effectively explains some of the more nuanced details in this article. Visit site »
A nice overview on how to choose typefaces and set type in ways that are appropriate for children. Visit site »
For anyone who still thinks it’s not possible to create beautiful typesettings using HTML and CSS. Well done, Coudal! Visit site »
A few great short clips from an interview with the always-insightful Michael Bierut. Good stuff. Visit site »
August 1st, 2007–August 5th, 2007 in Seattle, WA
A wonderful eight-minute video with Michael Bierut on the topic of typography. Man, I love this guy. I got his 79 Essays book for Christmas, but haven’t gotten into it yet. Can’t wait. Visit site »
I look forward to Nicholas Felton’s personal annual reports every year. Sooo well-done. Visit site »
The kind folks at CoffeeCup Software have posted audio of all the Webmaster Jam Session talks from this past September, including my talk on web typography, and the Web Design ...
These are awesome. I really wish there was a Seattle one. I’d hang it in my home office in a heartbeat. Visit site »
Richard, who continues to be one of web typography’s biggest assets, has an ALA article that’s all about sizing type. He evaluates many different ways of sizing type, demonstrating the results of each across several browsers (including when text is resized by users). He ultimately concludes than an em-based approach is best. I would agree with this completely. He also notes in his addendum that the math needed to use this approach can get complicated, especially with deeply-nested elements.
In the typography workshop I’ve done a few times now, I’ve come to much the same conclusion. If you want the absolute best, most ideal way to size type, using ems is the way to go — but it will take you more time and patience, because of the math. Sizing with pixels is definitely easier, but also definitely not as ideal. You’ll have to evaluate the trade-offs and decide what’s appropriate for a given project. Visit site »
Mark talks about typography and art direction (or the lack thereof) on the web, noting that while many web designers are making content legible and on-brand, very few are actually telling stories with it. I couldn’t agree more.
Part of the problem here is a purely practical one. In journalism, for example, there is now a demand for news to be posted right freaking now, which means content management systems and templates. That’s somewhat understandable in breaking news type situations, but why aren’t more news sites art directing weekly features and special pieces, which generally aren’t so time-sensitive and have adequate prep time? Visit site »
If you’ve seen my talk on typography, yo know that the rule of thumb says that narrower columns require less leading (or line-height, in CSS) than wider ones. This cool little plugin for jQuery handles this for you automatically, and works very smoothly. Check out the demo page. Via Wilson. Visit site »
I continue to loves me some WebKit. These guys are the designer’s best friend — they are really focusing on implementing the parts of CSS that really matter to designers, which is awesome (unless, of course, you’re a JavaScript programmer). :) Visit site »
Trajan is actually a very solid typeface, but it’s wildly overused, and the traditional KU basketball jersey look has far more character. Some KU students don’t want to lose it. Awesome. Via Matt. Visit site »
“…Windows looks sharper at the expense of not actually being a very accurate representation of the text. The Mac with it’s design/DTP background is a much more accurate representation and scales more naturally than Windows which consequently jumps around a lot vertically.”
The piece includes a great example of just how true this is. It also includes this great quotes:
“The issue is reminiscent of the ‘I hate black bars on wide-screen films’ brigade who believe that the film should be chopped, panned, scaled and otherwise distorted from the artists original intention simply so that it fits better on their display.”
A new typography-related blog and information site. Looks like it oculd be a good one, in time. Via Veerle. Visit site »
George Ou puts an image of Vista’s sub-pixel anti-aliasing next to Mac OS X’s non-sub-pixel anti-aliasing and declares Vista the winner. No shit, Sherlock. How about a level playing field? Visit site »
Several great selections here, which include both classics and less-known fonts. A little heavy on the sans serif side, but still… Visit site »
You can now pre-order the Helvetica film DVD. Go get yours. Well-worth it. Visit site »
A few weeks ago, Newsvine’s Intern Rob™ showed me a version of what is now called “Synotype” he was using in development of his recently redesigned site. I insisted that he must release it to the public. He has done so, and it very well might be the most useful typography tool to hit the web in quite a while. If you’ve ever wanted to make sure your baselines are all neatly lining up, do check it out. Thanks, Rob! Visit site »
Christian’s awesome Typogrify module for Django has been ported to drupal. I think it’s available now on just about every popular personal publishing platform there is. Awesome. Visit site »
Mark talks about what you can when you’re aligning type to a baseline grid, but smaller type seems to have too much leading. I actually use this often for larger type, too: if you can fit your larger type in one grid line, you can set the leading to two or three units — or a unit and a half, for example. The point is: even if you “fall off” the grid, you always get yourself back on. Visit site »
I’m so excited to see Christian’s Typogrify being ported to all these popular publishing platform. The web is getting prettier every day! Visit site »
A port of Christian’s typogrify for Rails. Since my post about typogrify here, I think it’s been ported to just about every web development language under the sun. Awesome. Visit site »