Typography in Web Design

Typography has been around since the printed word was invented. The above image is an example from iso50.com, where amazing work is collected, created, and  discussed.

Typography: The art or process of setting and arranging types and printing from them.When this definition comes into the mix with web design, we experience why it is such a vital part of the front-end design.

Learning and experiencing the rules of typography enable a designer to effectively break these rules. But without this prior knowledge, rules are broken without any intention, and result in super ugly sites!

Craigslist is often cited as a prime example for the ugly/undesigned site success story. Guess what, that's because you can't see past the visuals. Does that mean it fails or is poorly designed? Well, no, just one piece of the puzzle is missing. Fortunately for Craigslist, the other pieces are so strong that they are able to overcome it. Craigslist succeeds despite its graphic design failure.

Design is communication! Which means: design is writing, design is organization, design is usability, and on and on. Design encompasses much more than you think. If you are still clinging to the idea that design is merely decoration, or that something has to be visually appealing to be successful, you are as thick as the mud you've been flinging.

I love typography.com provides 15 websites that utilize beautiful type elements. Some attempt to mimic the typography of print, while others actually leverage web technology, smart CSS, and delicious HTML to make their pages not only aesthetically pleasing, but legible, user-friendly and easily navigable.