Tech tip: choose your tools wisely

I see this on the web all the time: fonts that don't lend themselves to easy screen reading. Here's an example.

This is plain Helvetica, with no line height or letter spacing added. The letters look like they're bumping into each other. I see content-heavy sites like web news use Helvetica all the time. While it might look great in print, onscreen, it's awful. No one can easily read this. It looks like an uncomfortable grey puddle up there, doesn't it?

Now look at another example.

This is Verdana, which was designed for the screen. I added some line height, and no letter spacing, because Verdana doesn't need letter spacing.

The point is this: know your audience and know how to choose the best tools for the job. Just because you used to work in print and now your life is upended and everything's askew, don't rest on what you once knew. Figure it out.

Update on Monday, July 13, 2009 at 03:59PM by Sonya Unrein

Site that collects Helvetica tweets. Sweet.

Update on Monday, July 13, 2009 at 07:45PM by Sonya Unrein

I am not the only person thinking about web typography. There are new tools on the horizon.

Comments

[Orbweaver]

Very interesting Sonya... I saw a whole hour long PBS show on Helvetica. Who knew you could do a whole program on a single font. I have liked Verdana for a very long time. There are many lovely fonts that work well for titles, which are, at the same time horrible as text.

I cannot tell you how many times I tried to talk kids out of using Chiller and Jokerman as the text in their powerpoints. Their response to my criticism usually was "Well I can read it" to which I responded. "But can your teacher read it? Who is giving you the grade?"

[Sonya]

Lori, if only the kids would use Chiller as a headline only font. Then they could still be creative and the bulk of the text would be legible? I'd like to see the Helvetica show. I'll have to Netflix. Thanks for commenting!