After my graphic design school I quickly started to gain interest in webdesign, I also quickly started to get frustrated by the limitations of web typography. The first thing I did was head to flash to be able to use any font I wanted, until I did understand why it wasn’t a good idea to create full sites in flash.
Tableless CSS layouts was probably the first discovery that made me want to design more websites, but then I still had the problem of the lack of fonts. One solution is to use SiFR, but it does have some flaws. Using downloadable fonts is problematic too.
The best way to handle web typography is for me to know which font you can use either OS. So here is my choice of CSS bundles that you can use in your stylesheets.
- Sans-serif with style: Helvetica, ‘Trebuchet MS’, Tahoma, Arial
- Sans-serif standard: Verdana, Geneva
- Sans-serif for titles: Impact, Techno, Arial Black
- Serif with style: ‘Palatino Linotype’, Palatino, Georgia, Utopia
- Serif standard: ‘Times New Roman’,Times
- Monospace: ‘Courier New’, Courier, ‘Lucida Console’, Monaco
To go further, read the following articles:
- Five simple steps to better typography, Mark Boulton
- The anatomy of web fonts, Andy Hume
- The elements of typographic styles applied to the web
- 15 excellent examples of web typography, I Love Typography
- Typography matters, Erin Kissane
- Web Fonts Test Suite, Jon Tan
About the Author
Mirko Humbert
Mirko Humbert is the editor-in-chief and main author of Designer Daily and Typography Daily. He is also a graphic designer and the founder of WP Expert.