Getting started with Web Typography

This is beginner-level session on web typography, targeted mainly at:

• Novice designers looking to improve their working knowledge of web typography
• Any designer who wants to experiment with webfonts but doesn’t know where to start

Key takeaways:

• Web typography is a core extension of my brand’s visual identity on the Internet
• There’s no excuse to avoid webfonts: they’re available in a plethora of options that suit any budget (including free!)

Outline

• Why does web typography matter?
  - The Web is 90% typography
  - Web type as an extension of the brand
• History of typesetting on the web
  - Web-safe fonts
  - Images > Flash (SIFR) > Javascript (Cufon) > Webfonts
• Basics of typeface selection
  - How to identify body faces
  - How to identify display faces
• Licensing typefaces
  - Licensing models: Purchase vs Rental
  - Services: Adobe Fonts, Google Fonts, Cloud.typography
  - Marketplaces & foundries: MyFonts & indie foundries like TypeTogether, Indian Type Foundry
  - Rolling your own fonts via font-face
  - Formats: woff, eof, ttf, otf

I initially had a bullet point about basic typesetting (scale, line-length, line-height, etc) but omitted it here as I feel it is sort of a gateway to Hamsa’s session, which she might as well cover as part of her talk. Also, to keep things crisp, I’m trying to keep the deck under 25 mins.

Speaker bio

I’ve always been passionate about web typography, and have spent a considerable amount of money experimenting with it over the years :P

More about me on my namesake dotcom: karlfernandes.com