I’ve recently read a great paperback called On Web Typography, by Jason Santa Maria.

The book is published by A Book Apart, who cover emerging and essential topics in web design and development with the ethos of: “working designer-developers can’t afford to waste time.”

The book itself is a great read; short, to the point and beneficial. So I wanted to put a post together that gives a quick overview of 4 key topics.

Type Matters

Type isn’t just a visual decoration or something that’s added at the end. Be it digital or print, typography is the most important way for designers to communicate a message to the user/reader. There needs to be a balance between beauty and utility.

Well executed typography gives words power to inform and delight. Your site may well have the most beautiful design, interactive interface, spot on CSS but if the typography is off or ignored then your design will fail.

Typeface vs Font

Hands up if you don’t know the difference between a typeface and a font? My hand was down by the way! I’m sure you’ll see these two terms thrown around willy nilly in the studio.

It’s simple:

Typeface is the name for the design in full. For example ‘Helvetica’ is a typeface and can be made up of numerous font files.

Fonts are the format for that design. So, Helvetica.ttf is a font.

People tend to mix up these two terms and I’m sure unless your a ‘type geek’ or incredibly anal it’s not an issue, as long as the end result is to your standard.

Know Your Context

There are many approaches to choosing type. It’s uber satisfying when you nail it and even more rewarding when you see it in action. You need to understand how you’re going to use the typeface. The author uses the terms ‘Type for a Moment’ and ‘Type to Live With’. This is a great way to remember this simple process.

Type for a Moment - Put simply is content that someone only needs a short time to read, including small copy, buttons or links.

Type to Live With - This is type we spend a lot of time with, as in articles or a book. The typeface you use can have a massive outcome on the reader choosing to start or even finish the read.

Avoiding Ready Made Fonts

A ‘ready made’ font is something you see at Halloween or Christmas. You know, the fonts that have bats or holly drooping over it. These type choices take over your design and limit you, they also cheapen the design and come across as lazy. However much a client may or may not want a Christmas tree font, don’t do it!

Always remember your typeface is the starting point, not the centrepiece.

The End

There’s a very small section in the book on whitespace, something I really took into consideration during our new site design.

It’s your call but I’d definitely recommend you Buy the Book!

Enjoy!

Image Source - Stuart Bloodworth