Blog Topic #8: Web Typography

This is not a small topic. Once you start digging it is easy to get overwhelmed. If you are someone who loves looking at various fonts you can get sucked right in and never come out. Much of the information is over the head of someone like myself who has dabbled in various aspects of design (in my case architecture) but has not been completely educated on the finer points of typography. I'm so elderly I remember the joy of getting a new sheet of press-on type which you would burnish in your title block with a special little metal tool, and you could brag about how all your hand lettering was EXACTLY 1/4" high without even using your lettering guide. (Another ancient tool used in hand drafting). Kerning and Leading? That nomenclature was for those print media types, we architects just eyeballed everything on the page. We all meet in the larger world of graphic communication whether  you are marketing a product or communicating a building design. And now we meet in even newer worlds of digital design and web design and we are still arguing over which type face says it best when it comes to the written word which is  integral to conveying our intent.

 The @font-face declaration creates a link to bring in a font from any server, the problem is that browser support for this is inconsistent, but getting better. An associated problem is that type foundries and designers were wary of users getting around their licensing agreements and using web fonts as desktop fonts if I am getting the jargon right. I think this means using the font in print media without permission?  If you go to Font Squirrel  and download one of their very nice free fonts, (perhaps one from Fontspring as I did) you can get a "how to use webfonts" sheet that includes information on how to upload your font, how to include it in your style sheet (it provides the code for you) and test it.


WOFF (Web Open Font Format) is one of four formats they include in their code to make sure your font will work with all browsers. These formats, and perhaps especially WOFF, which is the most widely adopted by various browsers, also help protect type designers from unscrupulous type stealers.  Fontspring blog post is a place you can go to get deep into the discussion about how to code these fonts into your webdesign to make it more bulletproof for smart phones, etc.

Typekit is another place to look for type, it has a different pricing model based on subscription, so you might want to check out this too.

For all kinds of amazing information about Typography from the most basic to the very advanced, check out I Love Typography.

Here's an article on SelectingWeb Fonts, designrfix  followed by anothe resource for free fonts.

As one blogger mentioned, you could spend all your time just trying to stay on top of these various and ever-changing topics and never even get to the web design itself you need to create for your actual job. Good luck finding the balance of staying on top of the industry and being industrious in your core mission.