Typography
Typography is the art and technique of arranging type to make written language most appealing to learning and recognition. The arrangement of type involves selecting typefaces, point size, line length, line-spacing, letter-spacing, and adjusting the space within letters pairs.
Text is meant to be read. If it feels difficult to read, people won’t want to read it. One factor that affects readability, and a great place to start, is choosing a legible font.
When we read, we don’t see individual letters; we see (and read) the shapes of the words. These shapes are created primarily by two elements: the strokes of the letters and the spaces in and around the letters. If we lose either of these elements, legibility is compromised.
Did you ever try to read a poor photocopy of a photocopy of a photocopy? Experience tells you that type becomes harder to read with each generation of copying. Why does this happen? Sometimes, multiple-generation photocopies make the text lighter. Thinner strokes start to disappear, leaving only parts of letters and compromising the word shapes. At other times, multiple-generation photocopies make the strokes in the text thicker. The spaces in and around the letters start to disappear. Either way, when strokes or spaces get lost, the legibility of the font changes, and reading becomes more difficult.
Web typographers need to pay particular attention to the strokes and spaces in a font because of screen resolution. Thin strokes and small spaces in letter forms can start to disappear, and as in the photocopy example, the text gets harder to read.
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