There is no excuse for bad typography on the web.
Dear Internet,
Stop it. There is no excuse for bad typography on the web. Also, there is no excuse for bad typography on the web. Typography is arguably the most important design principle of web design. Hierarchy, leading, kerning, and composition are crucial in making a digestible webpage. Believe it or not, your webpage can be as beautiful as a spread in GQ or as clean as the pages of your favorite novel.
The days of “websafe” fonts are over.
There are many resources that bring your favorite typefaces to the web. Most are not free, but they are worth it. Generally speaking, the cost to use a font on the web — whether you are buying an individual license or joining a subscription service — depends on how many views your website gets. Below are a few of my go-to resources:
Google Fonts
Google Fonts, a completely free resource, has a decent library and is a good place to start. They won’t have your favorite typeface but they will likely have a “value” version that looks similar.
I’ve noticed that, depending on the font, the letter forms do not render well, or the same, across all browsers or platforms. On the other hand,they do load pretty fast.
Typekit
Typekit pioneered web typography, and they are continually growing and improving their library. After Adobe’s Acquisition many of Adobe’s fonts became available making it a resource few can rival. They’re affordable too. With subscription levels starting at $25/year for personal use and maxing out at $100/year for professionals there’s an option for everyone. Cross browser compatibility isn’t bad either — you can preview how each font will look through their on site editor.
If you’re working on Mac, don’t be alarmed when a Typekit typeface renders pretty differently on a PC. It can be rough. However, I have no doubt they are diligently working to make things more consistent.
Cloud Typography by H&FJ
Hoefler & Frere-Jones, the worlds leading type foundry, just launched the long-awaited cloud.typography. This service is subscription based (starting at $100/year) and includes the entire H&FJ collection. Professionals — this is definitely your best option for high quality, consistent rendering and compatibility as each letterform is built from the pixel up.
I have yet to take advantage of this option so I don’t have any comments from personal experience, but I can’t wait to give it a try.
Individual License Purchase
If all else fails, or if you would simply prefer to embed the font in your website, there is always the option to buy the web license from a site like Fontshop.
I’ve done this for several projects and haven’t had any problems with cross-platform compatibility or quality.
The challenge of web typography goes far beyond limiting yourself to Arial or Georgia because you didn’t know any better. I like how Jason Santa-Maria put in his article for A List Apart:
“There’s a serious possibility that by gaining access to the world’s font libraries, we’re opening Pandora’s Box. Many people working on the web today have some knowledge of typography, but my hunch is that many designers are about to feel quite baffled by the new challenges they face.”
In other words, “With great power comes great responsibility.” Web typography & design has come a long way since this article was published (November of 2009) but his advice still rings true.
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When designing for the web, think like a print designer. Scratch that. Think like a designer. The design principles of print design are exactly the same for web design and for interior design, for product design, etc. Every time a ‘print’ designer says they can’t design for the web I think an aspiring designer’s passion dies. It’s just crazy-talk. In fact — more of you ‘print’ designers need to be designing websites. The internet will only be better looking because of it.
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Don’t get too comfortable
Just when you think you’ve figured all this out, it will change. And that’s the exciting part — web design is always evolving and will never get stale. If I had to guess, in the coming year web design is going to become more and more app-like. Agencies like Rally Interactive are setting the stage, and I wont mind one bit if more websites pop-up with the finesse of snowbird.com or as immersive as Into the Arctic by Hello Monday.
All this does not mean there isn’t a time and place for basic, time-proven fonts in web design. They are extremely legible and everybody has them. They just aren’t your only option, and if you decide to use them, use them well.
