CHAPTER 9 The Next Steps for Web Typography
white Space hierarchy
There are three white spaces within a paragraph that are interdependent —
letter space, word space and line space. If any one of the three is changed,
all the others should be reassessed, too. By preserving the hierarchy
between the white spaces, we can achieve the best reading experience for
various scenarios (variable tempo, different line lengths).font Size, leading and Measure
Another fundamental relationship is the interconnection between font
size, line height and line length. The line length is dictated by a combina-
tion of font size and the available horizontal space within a container. The
longer the line, the more space we need between successive lines and vice
versa. As a result of these dependencies, if any of the three is changed, all
the others should be reassessed, too.
As every Web designer knows, the satisfactory line length is between
45 to 75 characters per line^64. It’s a common thing among Web designers
to space such lines with a line height of 1.5ems, give or take. The trouble
is, we can barely fit 40 characters on a mobile screen. The line height of 1.5
combined with such a short line length results in too generous spacing. If
a paragraph looks like a list, reduce the spacing between lines.64 http://smashed.by/webtypoIllustration of white spaces