Hour 17. Typefaces

Having text rendered in a specific typeface can communicate a visual message in addition to the text's message. Designers have long enjoyed the flexibility of computer-aided design, with extensive letterform control just a few mouse clicks away. When HTML and subsequent online technologies emerged, all that had been viewed as beautiful and promising with digital technology was thrown out the window; suddenly, precise layouts and typographic control were a thing of the past. Generalities ruled the online world.

Choosing between Verdana and Times New Roman often felt like choosing the lesser of two evils in communicating typographically on the Web. Whereas most online standards have fallen short of providing true typographic ...

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