Nice Web Type

I have always found value in moderation and patience, and I was taught to choose type with these virtues in mind. While the lab at my college had an enormous type library, my professors urged me to spend time with just one well-made type family.

Just one!?

Surely, I thought, the same typeface (even in its various styles and weights) could not solve every problem. Despite my doubts, I accepted the challenge and carefully chose a typeface.

I correctly assumed that this restriction would help me appreciate the freedom to choose among many typefaces; If I valued a single one, then I could learn to value many. What surprised me was how much value I found in certain type designs and designers.

By sticking with a typeface and attempting to solve problems even in the face of certain doom, one comes to know many things. For instance, how size can entirely change the personality of a typeface, or how resonance among design details can guide graphic communication and affect a work’s art-directed message.

Surprise, surprise. When we’re forced to work within limitations, we learn and grow. However, there are certain typefaces that, if we’re lucky enough to be stuck with them (or be able to stick with them), make such challenges easier and more rewarding. The “workhorse” faces. The go-tos. The standbys. These special typefaces succeed where others fail.

On the web, until the recent advent of CSS @font-face, for practical and technical reasons, we have had a limited stable of typefaces to choose among. Perhaps this history has taught us the very same lessons that my college professors taught me? Perhaps we have come to know many things?

Now find your workhorse

Web typographers, my advice is this: In the face of the innumerable typeface choices that web fonts will usher in, choose typefaces in moderation, and be very patient after you’ve made your choice. Trust your instincts. And, trust good advice.

Jason Santa Maria, On Web Typography:

“Using a typeface because it looks interesting might yield acceptable results, but really practicing the art of typography involves understanding typefaces and what they mean. Picking a good-enough face isn’t that hard, but choosing an appropriate one that fits comfortably within societal and technical concerns can be tough.”

Michael Bierut, Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Typeface:

“Some typefaces are just perfect for certain things. I’ve specified exotic fonts for identity programs that work beautifully in headlines and even in text, but sooner or later you have to set that really tiny type at the bottom of the business reply card. This is what Franklin Gothic is for.”

Do you already have a go-to typeface for use with CSS @font-face? Please share. I may even use it in something new I’m cooking up.