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Web Typography: A handbook for designing beautiful and effective responsive typography
Typography is what comes between the author and the reader. This is as true on the web as it is in any other medium. If a text has anything at all significant to say, it needs a typographer’s care, which will in turn be repaid by the reader’s attention. If you design websites or use CSS then you are a typographer whether you know it or not.
This book is a practical guide and companion reference to all aspects of typography on the web. It deftly combines implementation details with typographic theory, and is ideal for designers, developers and anyone else involved in the process of creating a website.
This book is a practical guide and companion reference to all aspects of typography on the web. It deftly combines implementation details with typographic theory, and is ideal for designers, developers and anyone else involved in the process of creating a website.
334 pages, ebook
Published January 1, 2017
18 people are currently reading
262 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
November 12, 2020
Moved to gwern.net.
May 2, 2023
This book is a treasure. It was amazingly informative and useful to me, a solo web developer interested in learning more about typography for use in my own websites.
My appreciation and understanding of typography on the web improved after reading even just the first few chapters. Now, when I visit web pages, I notice little details about the typography that I hadn't before--the text size, the line heights, the approximate number of characters per line... the typographic color of the paragraphs... the design choices made with respect to text alignment... and, when I inspect CSS using Inspect, I can easily understand just about everything font-related, especially what each of the typical units (rem, em, px) really mean, and a bit about their historical contexts.
Perhaps most important is that this book improved my taste. I now understand that simplicity and readability are more important than big, eye-catching text. And, looking at my favorite websites, I realize that their designers understood this principle, as well.
If you are web developer or designer who wants an experienced, pleasant, and intelligent guide to usher you into the world of web typography, I cannot recommend this book highly enough.
My appreciation and understanding of typography on the web improved after reading even just the first few chapters. Now, when I visit web pages, I notice little details about the typography that I hadn't before--the text size, the line heights, the approximate number of characters per line... the typographic color of the paragraphs... the design choices made with respect to text alignment... and, when I inspect CSS using Inspect, I can easily understand just about everything font-related, especially what each of the typical units (rem, em, px) really mean, and a bit about their historical contexts.
Perhaps most important is that this book improved my taste. I now understand that simplicity and readability are more important than big, eye-catching text. And, looking at my favorite websites, I realize that their designers understood this principle, as well.
If you are web developer or designer who wants an experienced, pleasant, and intelligent guide to usher you into the world of web typography, I cannot recommend this book highly enough.
November 10, 2018
This was lovely. The typography in the book itself is—perhaps unsurprisingly—incredibly well thought through. He chooses 3 types that play off each other very well, giving a clear structure and balance to each page. There are plenty of examples of good typographical practices in the book, but the book itself might be the best example of all.
Normally I'd be opposed to a technical book that's so prescriptive, but the author gives excellent rationale for every piece of advice. It's thorough, but doesn't feel overly lengthy. The section on Knowing and browsing type is the best explanation I've seen of how to classify and identify typefaces.
Although I haven't had a chance to put much of it into practice just yet, I can tell this will be a fantastic reference book to jump back into time and time again. There's a mix of general advice that will stand the test of time, along with some more practical CSS-specific best practices. Many include extensive fallbacks, which will hopefully become less relevant as browser vendors begin to implement some of the more nuanced capabilities in the CSS and OpenType specs.
Thoroughly recommended to type nerds and anyone designing for the Web.
Normally I'd be opposed to a technical book that's so prescriptive, but the author gives excellent rationale for every piece of advice. It's thorough, but doesn't feel overly lengthy. The section on Knowing and browsing type is the best explanation I've seen of how to classify and identify typefaces.
Although I haven't had a chance to put much of it into practice just yet, I can tell this will be a fantastic reference book to jump back into time and time again. There's a mix of general advice that will stand the test of time, along with some more practical CSS-specific best practices. Many include extensive fallbacks, which will hopefully become less relevant as browser vendors begin to implement some of the more nuanced capabilities in the CSS and OpenType specs.
Thoroughly recommended to type nerds and anyone designing for the Web.
August 28, 2018
What to say? Richard Rutter manages, once again, to condense the best practices regarding typography on the Web onto a single book. This alone isn't the hardest thing of all to achieve, but Web Typography also has a timeless quality to it; pretty remarkable, since it's a very practical book that's somewhat tied to the current state of HTML and CSS.
Despite that, there is a generous amount of theory in the book that makes all advice applicable and useful in years to come; and for this reason alone, it's unlikely that I'll put the book on the shelf anytime soon. Much like The Elements of Typographic Style, it's a book you want to keep at hand, close-by, so you can pick it up again, open it randomly and reinforce the learnings.
Highly recommended for anyone interested in typography, either working as a designer or as a developer, in particular.
Despite that, there is a generous amount of theory in the book that makes all advice applicable and useful in years to come; and for this reason alone, it's unlikely that I'll put the book on the shelf anytime soon. Much like The Elements of Typographic Style, it's a book you want to keep at hand, close-by, so you can pick it up again, open it randomly and reinforce the learnings.
Highly recommended for anyone interested in typography, either working as a designer or as a developer, in particular.
August 29, 2018
As the top-ranked Goodreads review points out, Rutter did an amazing job of mixing timeless principles with practical advice. One of the best technology books I've read.
I put together a stylesheet on Github for readers of the book, so that you can apply his styles without going line by line through the book for each project:
https://github.com/briankoser/web-typ...
It's absolutely not a replacement for purchasing the book; merely a reference and template. Seriously, you need to read the book to understand when and how to use the CSS. Plus, there's a ton of knowledge that's not even referenced in this stylesheet, like how to choose and pair typefaces. Buy the book, it's great.
4.5 stars
I put together a stylesheet on Github for readers of the book, so that you can apply his styles without going line by line through the book for each project:
https://github.com/briankoser/web-typ...
It's absolutely not a replacement for purchasing the book; merely a reference and template. Seriously, you need to read the book to understand when and how to use the CSS. Plus, there's a ton of knowledge that's not even referenced in this stylesheet, like how to choose and pair typefaces. Buy the book, it's great.
4.5 stars
April 3, 2021
Old book but still pretty good. Highly Recommend, you don't have to translate Bringhurst in your head to the web, he does it for you.
April 29, 2024
A digital update to Robert Bringhurst's classic The Elements of Typographic Style. Concise and practical. Hard to ask for more.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews