Type tips for webdesign

About a year ago we had some introductory classes in correct typographic practices, a lesson which I am convinced was intended to be excessively dull and yet somehow managed to catch my interest. The reason for my intrigue, I believe, is related to the fact that there are few people who are aware of these practices. I'm not talking about choosing a font, or deciding what point size and leading to use—obviously these are significant changes to make that are easily noticeable. No, what I'm referring to are the finer details of typography, for example when to make spacial adjustments for punctuation marks, or whether to use an em-dash, en-dash or a hyphen. It is a task that is both time-consuming and tedious, and yet there is a sense of satisfaction to be had from the knowledge that these tiny, almost imperceptible adjustments will result in a text that is easier on the eye, both in terms of legibility and overall beauty.

Following the classes I went out and bought the book our teacher recommended to us on the subject, “Typography Workbook—A Real-World Guide to Using Type in Graphic Design” by Timothy Samara, which I promptly devoured. Since then I have gradually started to pay more and more attention to typography, both in my own designs and in those of others.

However, whilst I have been focusing on re-designing my online portfolio over the past few weeks, I have started to realise that typography in print and typography on the web are two completely different ball-games. For one, although getting a text to look right on paper is a slow process, at least you can relax in the knowledge that, when you've finished, the glyphs will have the decency to stay where you put them (that is, assuming that you don't forget to outline your text before sending the files to the printer). The internet, however, offers no such guarantees and I have been quietly pondering how to ensure that the text on my portfolio displays as I want it to. You can imagine my delight then, when I opened my inbox this afternoon to find the first issue of the Smashing Magazine newsletter sitting there containing a link to the article “Typography Quick Tips” by Harry Roberts of @csswizardry, which turned out to be an excellent guide to creating beautiful typography on the web. Thanks Harry, and thanks Smashing Magazine for the first newsletter.