PW Resources: Typography Resources

Typography Resources for Designers

Nicole Nguyen

Overview

The purpose of this site is to provide a comprehensive collection of resources that anyone interested in type and typography can use, but particularly web and print designers.

Resources on the "Resources" page include:

technical articles on typography and different ways that typography can function in both print and web environments
an interview with well-known typographic designers
several blogs and online journals devoted to typography
sites with tips on how to use typography to your advantage for better graphic design

A few examples of text graphics:

A text graphic created by designer Si Scott (click image to go to his website)

The Good Die Young, a graphic by Si Scott

Text graphics created by Nicole Nguyen

What is Typography and Why is it Important?

Typography means more than just Times New Roman, Arial and Comic Sans. Typography influences the overall look of a page, both in print and on the web. It is an important element in the design of any page, both graphically and in reference to the text itself. Uses for typography include:

setting a theme
identifying a specific image through branding (think Google, Coca-Cola, Hewlett-Packard)
adding visual contrast to an otherwise bland page of text

The term itself refers to the art and technique of putting written words in type using fonts, font sizes, line length, line spacing (leading) and letter spacing (tracking and kerning). Beyond these simple things, typography also shows up in graphic contexts, using text graphics. Magazines most often use text graphics for the title page of an article; advertisements also play with text. Web designers can use text graphics to set their sites apart from the rest -- creating a strong visual impact with imaginative mixtures of color, font, and Photoshop skills can take you a long way.

This sketch from typeworkshop.com shows the difference between a piece of text with kerning and one without:

Resources on Font, Type and Graphics

Daniel Mall: Typobituaries Bank Gothic typobituary by Daniel Mall

This article is a witty take on the necessary retirement of certain popular fonts, according to Daniel Mall. If nothing else, this article serves as a good laugh and something that could possibly spur some original ideas of your own. (see Daniel's typobituary for Bank Gothic at right)

Eye Magazine: The International Review of Graphic Design

This magazine is a great resource for graphic design in general; it is mainly a print magazine with some web-only features, but enough of the articles are online so that subscribing would not be necessary in order to benefit from it. This link goes directly to the typography section of the website.

Typeforyou.blogspot.com

This blog is all about type and typography. It comes from of Portugal, but the text is in English. Currently, they feature an interview with graphic designer Si Scott (linked below).

Typographi.com

A journal solely devoted to typography and graphics. Articles include news about exciting new fonts and the people who design them, plus information on upcoming design conventions.

Media Bistro: Typography

This online journal is a huge resource for media and journalism jobs, events, freelance contacts, etc. The typography section linked here has a ton of interesting (and funny) discussions on everything from the origin of a particular font-face (think Helvetica or the font used for London's famous Underground signs) to new developments in the world of typography and designers who are doing crazy and amazing things with type.

Typography and the Web

A List Apart: Typography

This online magazine has compiled a list of 10 articles written about typography with specific focus on typography on the web, including articles on dynamic text replacement, elastic design, relative font sizes and supporting non-Western languages on the Web. The website proclaims itself "for people who make websites" and contains tons of valuable information on topics outside of typography.

The Elements of Typographic Style Applied to the Web

Richard Rutter has taken the basic elements of Robert Bringhurst's book The Elements of Typographic Style and applied them to the web. This is a lengthy, but thorough, systematic look at typography on the web. It is very well organized.

Computer Arts: "Experimental Typography"

This article on new typography puts its focus on experimental digital typography and addresses the issue of the old standards of type versus the new designs that are emerging.

Optimizing Design: Text vs. Graphics

This article goes over when and how to use text and text graphics on a website.

Digital Web Magazine: CSS Technology

Garrett Dimon discusses how you can get around the usual web limitations for typography on the web using font embedding.

Typography Theory

Backspace.com: "Type and Nation,3”

This interview with Dr. Thomas Starr about typography as a way to reach the masses originally appeared on the NPR site.

"Typography, Typeface and Relevance As Voice"

This article addresses the idea that typography and type are two of the key elements of voice, and applies it to branding and graphic design. The article is posted on a blog created by Basis, a design-consulting firm based in Toronto, Canada.

Illegibility by Peter Bilak

This is a technical article by Peter Bilak on the legibility of type; it mainly pertains to print, though it could be a good resource for web as well. Unfortunately, the look of the article itself is counter to what the author talks about.

Designers

4wall.co.uk

A collective of graphic artists, several of whom specialize in text graphics and branding (see Si Scott, linked below).

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