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i do this at the keyboard sometimes ... admit it, so do you

Typography reigns supreme

So if you can't get to London for the latest Meeting of the Minds, London can come to you. Jon Hicks (of Firefox logo fame) writes about "Good Design Vs. Great Design", a joint presentation with Cameron Moll and Veerle. The slides alone are valuable, and the links inside are more than gold.

Of certain interest is the link to The elements of Typographic Style Applied to the Web. The typographic classic, every print designer's bible, has been adapted for web typography. Hurrah!

In order to allay some of the myths surrounding typography on the web, I have structured this website to step through Bringhurst’s working principles, explaining how to accomplish each using techniques available in HTML and CSS. The future is considered with coverage of CSS3, and practicality is ever present with workarounds, alternatives and compromises for less able browsers.

So how does this play out in practical terms?

From a typographical perspective, the most appropriate method is to set box width in ems (elastic layout) as it ensures the measure is always set to the typographer’s specification. Setting box width as a percentage (liquid layout) gives the typographer approximate control over measure but also allows the reader to adjust the layout to suit his or her comfort. This website has been designed with liquid layout to afford readers this control.

Relinquishing such control makes some designers quake in their boots, but the beauty and advantage of the Web as medium is that readers are able to adjust their reading environment to suit their own needs. This is a concept that should be acknowledged & embraced, and built into website designs from the ground up.

Fantastic. I love a guide like this, because it makes perfect sense. Solid, well-thought out, logical. I can already see how this will help me build better websites that are not only beautiful, but flexible and functional as well. It's amazing when you find one little document and you learn morein an hour than you did in a week.