Itâs great that we now have a huge range of fonts to choose from, thanks to the wideÂspread impleÂmenÂtaÂtion of @font-face
, but typogÂraÂphy on the web is still behind othÂer media. Many OpenÂType fonts come with a range of alterÂnate charÂacÂters which can be accessed using varÂiÂous softÂware packÂages, but arenât availÂable to web browsers. Or rather, they werenât. Thereâs a new CSS propÂerÂty which unlocks these speÂcial charÂacÂters, and thatâs what Iâm going to explain in this post.
I just watched a great docÂuÂmenÂtary called The InvenÂtion of Dr. NakaÂmats*, and loved the style of the titles and credÂits (Vimeo video) by The Ronin. I thought Iâd have a go at doing them in CSS, and you can see my first attempt here:
It uses 3D TransÂforÂmaÂtions so needs to be viewed in Safari for the full effect, but degrades quite graceÂfulÂly. I had a go at adding some aniÂmaÂtions to it but it didÂnât feel right, so Iâve left that out for now. That aside, Iâm hapÂpy with the way it looks and it was realÂly easy to make. CSS has come a long way.
* If youâre in the UK you can curÂrentÂly watch this on 4OD.
As I get ready to kick off a couÂple of perÂsonÂal web projects, Iâve been readÂing Enric JarÂdiĚâs book, TwenÂty two tips on typogÂraÂphy*, a primer on what works and what doesÂnât in typography.
Although JarÂdiĚ mainÂly works on type for print, most of the rules also apply to type for the web. In this artiÂcle Iâm going to highÂlight five of his tips which are useÂful in decidÂing upon the right type for a project.
FireÂfox 3.5 was released earÂliÂer today, and joins Safari in supÂportÂing the @font-face rule with OpenÂType and TrueÂType font famÂiÂlies, allowÂing you to use a wider range of fonts in your designs (as long as they are corÂrectÂly licensed, of course).
One slight drawÂback of the techÂnique is the blank space thatâs disÂplayed as the new font is loaded into the browsÂer; this is espeÂcialÂly unnecÂesÂsary for users who already have that font nativeÂly on their system.
The way to get around that is quite simÂple; use local()
to check if the font is on the userâs sysÂtem first.
With (stanÂdards-comÂpliÂant) browsÂer innoÂvaÂtion firmÂly back on the agenÂda, thereâs a lot of excitÂing new techÂnolÂoÂgy to get to grips with. This week, Google have thrown their weight firmÂly behind HTML5, while a new start-up aims to bring web fonts to all.
Iâm at home with the flu at the moment, so takÂing the opporÂtuÂniÂty to un-star some items in Google ReadÂer; this post is a link-dump with a litÂtle added comment.
A few of them have been in my favourites for a couÂple of months, so apoloÂgies if youâve seen them already.