T-Log

http://www.informationarchitects.jp/the-web-is-all-about-typography-period

Last week lecture mentioned about the use of font-type, from the view point of art, we call this “Typography”.

In the past, some artists played font to show their artwork design, this generally migrate to the field of graphic design and publication scope. For the above blog passage, it states that nowadays the most important thing for web design is the use of typography -Information design is typography.

The passage quoted a famous Swiss typographer, Emil Ruder, his comments on typography:

Today we are inundated with such an immense flood of printed matter that the value of the individual work has depreciated, for our harassed contemporaries simply cannot take everything that is printed today. It is the typographer’s task to divide up and organize and interpret this mass of printed matter in such a way that the reader will have a good chance of finding what is of interest to him.

The comment that Emil gave is exactly the task the web author, the information designer needs to do. As good use of typography, or optimizing typography can enhance readability, accessibility, usability and overall graphic balance.

Even though a website full of text may distract people from accessing to the webpage, but this is also the issue that informative website has to deal with, especially there are many different resolution for different computer users and different rendering power for different browsers; Using image as layout design cannot remain the same among different platform. A great web designer knows how to work with text not just as content, but treats “text as a user interface”.

As we are not reach the status of great web designer, we can still use graphic in enhancing web layout. However, when we concentrating on graphic components, we can think more about how can we use typography in giving visitors surprise and attracting them to stay longer in the website.

A great site use typography for layout design: Subtraction

Beyond this: typography of the sky: Designboom