December 31, 1996 TYPOGRAPHY AND YOU...

Type. You can't read without it. And sometimes, you can't read because of it. An understanding of typography, you might think, is beyond your ken. Something better left to angst-ridden artists and highfalutin' graphic designers. Not so. Gif Girl says: nothing will improve your Web page design skills more than a good understanding and respect for type. Except maybe a firm grasp of color theory. But we'll leave that for another column.

So how does one go about developing an understanding of such mysterious terms as "kerning", "leading", and "stealing sheep"? Have no fear. Gif Girl is here.

ONLINE: Typographic
by Razorfish
http://www.razorfish.com/bluedot/typo/

Razorfish has created a fantastic resource for learning about the history, complexity, and importance of typography. Besides being beautifully designed, Typographic is (gasp!) extremely educational and enjoyable. Gif Girl warns you, however, that it's not for the faint at heart as far as download times go. But it's well worth the wait.

While Gif Girl often scoffs at the gratuitous use of plug-ins and advanced Web technologies like Shockwave and Java, Typographic incorporates these browser extras in a meaningful, seamless way.

For instance, the section called Anatomy has one of the most inventive and useful Shockwave movies that Gif Girl has ever seen. Oh, if only all Shockwave could be this meaningful...

Gif Girl also found the Glossary very complete, but if you find a term missing, or badly defined, Typographic invites you to send in a new word or definition; hence, the glossary is always being improved and enlarged. So the next time you go to a cocktail party full of snooty designers, you can drop a term like "analphabetic" with ease and grace. And no, the meaning has nothing to do with being compulsively neat about your type.

OFFLINE: Stop Stealing Sheep
& find out how type works
by Eric Spiekermann and E.M. Ginger
Adobe Press, 1993, US$19.95.

There's nothing Gif Girl likes to do more than curl up with an academic typography journal. However, she also realizes that not everyone is as much of a type geek as she is. So she suggests this fun, informative book for those of you who want to get your feet wet in type.

The great thing about Stop Stealing Sheep, besides its cryptic title, is that it helps you understand why you should give a hoot about type in the first place. Spiekermann and Ginger have done a great job of making the study of type accessible to everyone; indeed, their thesis is that it is everyone's business:

These days, people need better ways to communicate to more diverse audiences. We know from experience that what we have to say is much easier for others to understand if we put it in the right voice; type is that voice, the visual language linking writer to reader. With thousands of typefaces available, choosing the right one to express even the simplest idea is bewildering to most everyone but practiced professionals... [T]ypography is not an art for the chosen few, but a powerful tool for anyone who has something to say in print.

p. 7

NEXT TIME:
Color My World:
Gif Girl gets the blues...
and reds, and greens.

Gif Girl, when she isn't out saving the world from dithered graphics and illegible Web pages, helps keep Tripod's pages running fast and furious.

Send your comments, ideas, suggestions, and of course, your solutions for saving the world from bad Web page design, to Gif Girl. She'd love to hear from you.