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Web Designer's
Guide to
Typography
An introduction to
type, typography
and the use of type
in Web design.
BY MARGARET RICHARDSON
Web Designer's Guide to Typography,
written by Michael Leary, Daniel Hale
and Andrew DeVigal (Hayden Books),
is an extensive overview of typography
and its applications for designing on
the Web. The major thesis of this text
is that good typography should be the
underpinning for all design, including
Web, site design.
The authors, collectively, acknowledge
that good presentation of type
on the Web can be a challenge given
the current technical limitations. But
each enthusiastically
focuses on what the
problems are and
explains how, with
assiduous effort
and firm commitment,
your type
can look better on
your Web pages.
The opening
section of the book
sets out the basics
of typography in
lucid, precise terms
in a functional, simple
design. This sec-
tion is a comprehensive, no-nonsense
primer and reference for everything
you need to know about typographic
terms and type in use. The last chapter
here introduces fonts created specifically
for the Web, and as soon as the
contrast of these types and those which
previously appeared in typographic
examples becomes clear, the challenge
is on how to make type on the Web
acceptable from a typographic standpoint.
Essentially, this is the task
explored in the remainder of this book.
Part 2 deals with Type on the Web,
providing in the opening chapter a
status report on the Web. Accepting
that "The Web is a mess?' it continues
by hearkening to the scientific and
academic roots of the Internet and then
moves on to the intrusion of designers.
Designers wanted graphic control, with
software companies responding to their
needs. The major dilemma is still based
on HTML restrictions, "which made it
all possible and—at the same time—
made typography so difficult. And the
purists called the designers traitors?'
This is essentially the state we find,
and the crux of why it is so difficult to
make type look like type on the screen.
These authors write from experience.
HTML may be frustrating,
but it is all we have to work with, so
understanding style sheets—and writing
your own—is not just suggested
but demanded. The first detailed
tutorial here explains how to set up
a simple, formatted HTML page.
(The tutorial continues online at www.
hayden.com/internet/type.) The tutorial
approach is used again for specifying
typography for a theoretical literary
online magazine Again, here are detailed
instructions with excellent examples,
with each change emphasizing
a typographic nuance.
Part 3 of the
book deals with
We
Des b
i ner's
Typography
akk ben to discover
the art of Web design
woe.
Type as Image and
moves beyond just
HTML and its limitations
to working
with type in Photoshop
to create GIF,
JPEG or PNG files.
This exploration
continues with creating
type using
other software programs
like Adobe
Illustrator and Macromedia
Freehand.
General informa- Font software and
tion and specific, how it works is also
detailed instruc- explained in detail.
tions make this The last sec-
typographic guide tion of the book
a reference as concentrates on
well as a how-to OpenType and the
book. concluding por-
tion of the book
provides a series of useful Appendices.
The authors manage to convey
one voice and one focused approach
to typography on the Web. There is
no disguising that working with type
on the Web is tedious and detailed but
worth it when you can impose typo-
graphic style to a Web site. The interactive
component of test driving some
of these ideas on the www.hayden.com/
internet/type site adds practical experience
to this typographical guide.
If you love type, and design for
Web sites, this is an invaluable resource
book for you.
119
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