The beauty of web typography.

For some time now typography on the web has been high in the radar of many web designers.  Although the web may not be the most friendly enviornment for typography because of browser differences (compared to print) it is still a key part in any design work.  This should be no surprise when the key to any successful website is its content, and as Robert Bringhurst says – “typography exists to honor content” (The Elements of Typographic Style).

Giving extra attention to the typography works especially well in minimalistic designs.  For example, artists or galleries they want few distractions to the works they are showing on the website, resulting in (often) a white background and shades of grey.  To stop this beautiful minimalism being interpretted as “boring” by the general public, the role of the type on the page becomes crutial. We will soon be launching a website where this is the exact case.

As there are only a handful of “web safe” fonts, the lack of choice can sometimes be a hurdle. However we have recently also been employing some fonts that come packaged with Windows Vista, and use appropriate roll-backs for those who are not on Vista.  Likewise if your audience is going to be primarily creatives, there is a good chance they will also have the Adobe font packages installed, opening up a wider range of fonts available for use.

Some cool typography websites:

• Mark Boulton’s five simple steps to better typography
• I Love Typography
• Veer Type