Web Typography
Once again, the schism between Web and Print design has resulted in detriment to both industries. Typography has a long and distinguished history as old a civilization itself. Why then, has the ascent of a brand new media degraded such a venerable craft? Perhaps it is because computer and Web technology has enveloped Typography like an amoeba.
But Typography on the Web is different from any challenge Typography has met in it ancient tradition. And this can be confusing to anyone who has been trained in traditional Typographic art. However, decadence in the craft is more likely the result of Web designers migrating to Print (present company included.)
Web Typography is just too easy. Until the Web and Print merge and mature, typographic concerns should really be considered distinctly. So below is an outline of good Web Typography.
- Avoid the "FONTFACE" tag! This is a horrible way to assign type styles. Use Cascading Style Sheets instead.
- Don't get carried away with varied and cute fonts. Too much visual contrast is distracting, and could result in unpredictable displays. Find your favorite plain serif & sans-serif fonts and use them consistently.
- If you wish to use unusual fonts, consider embedding"OpenType" or "TrueDoc" fonts. These techniques do have their drawbacks, however— mostly platform incompatibility.
Special considerations should be applied to text on the Web.
These considerations, as well as general suggestions, are detailed below. First, some general suggestions:
- Use text whenever possible (rather than kludged images of text.) This makes your information more accessible to search engines and text-to-speech converters.
- Verdana really is the best all-around typeface for the web.
Here is a good article from Agfa (a premier type foundry) on web Typography.
Resolution
Computer screen resolution can be almost seventeen times lower than print resolution. This ratio can be skewed even farther by variables such as paper quality. Consequently, type is affected first and foremost.
- Serif fonts (type with little curlicues) can be hard to read online.
- Very, very few fonts are legible below 9 points.
Platform
Similar fonts can look very different on different computers— especially Macintosh Vs. Windows. Click here to see a GIF comparing them. If you want to create consistent looking text across platforms, consider using the following fonts:
- Times New Roman for Serif fonts
- Verdana for Sans-Serif fonts
User Preferences
Fonts can be configured by the user, often destroying a Web Designer's hard work. Oh well. This may be necessary to compensate for a User's special needs.
©2004 MadMac Creations
All recommendations are to be used at the reader's discretion, and is subject to change without notice. While a best effort is made to test software and techniques provided, the reader is advised to test thoroughly prior to implementation. MadMac Creations takes no responsibility for any losses accrued, unless Tony MacFarlane has been contracted.
