By Marko Dugonjić CHAPTER 9often than not and especially on the Web, content should be accessible and
readable not only now, but in the future, too. At least, that’s the idea.
As professional matchmakers between content and the reader, we must
understand what has to be covered to design for the reading experience^16.
As we get to know the content, context and the user, consider all of the
variables and understand the constraints, limitations and flavors of all the
ingredients in a project, as ultimately our choices are informed as a result
of covering all of these bases and avoiding the traps. In other words, type-
setting is a very rational practice.
Erik Spiekermann likes to say that you only need a color and a typeface
and you have a brand. Once we remove all of the flourishes and decora-
tions, the type remains, thus forming the bare essence of visual commu-
nication. This is far more evident now that we design for ridiculously
cramped mobile screens and adaptive environments. There’s no room for
intensive visual treatments and add-ons, because it’s not viable to carry all
that baggage across different media.
Furthermore, we need to relearn how to design for the Web with fewer
visual devices and with fewer building materials. After we remove all of
the lines, backgrounds, texture and layout, the only thing left is content.
That’s why typography is so important. Since typography is the face of con-
tent, everything else can be stripped down, but typography always stays.
Fortunately, typography is an old and established discipline and there
are plenty of resources to learn from. Below is a selection of recommended
books, listed approximately in order of ease to read.
- Inside Paragraphs by Cyrus Highsmith
- Thinking with Type by Ellen Lupton
- Stop Stealing Sheep and Learn How Type Works
by Erik Spiekermann and E.M. Ginger - Detail in Typography by Jost Hochuli
16 http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2013/02/18/designing-reading-experience/