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Vernon Fowler

Your Body Text Is Too Small - 0 views

blog.attackthefront.io/text-is-too-small-5e02d36dc902

typography font size body text web webdesign usability readability legibility

shared by Vernon Fowler on 23 Nov 16 - No Cached
  • Some examples of sans-serif fonts that work well for large body text include Atlas Grotesk, Futura, Lato, Maison Neue, Real Text, Roboto, and Suisse Int’l.
  • Some examples of serif fonts that work well for large body text include Equity, Franziska, Leitura News, Merriweather, Miller, PT Serif, and Tisa.
  • better to optically select a font size according to near-finalized colors, or in different color scenarios
  • ...6 more annotations...
  • a better starting point would be 20px on small desktop displays and greater. We should only have to resort to 16px for body copy on very small mobile devices
  • down to the eye again to optically adjust the letter-spacing and font size together
  • the optimal line length, or number of characters per line (CPL) in typography is around 55 to 75
  • line height should also be relative to the font size as it scales up for larger displays
  • This is not about having the biggest body text, because biggest isn’t best. It’s about optimizing for the best reading experience you can possibly give your users
  • sites that have adopted bigger body text even at small desktop or laptop resolutions such as 1440 x 900. They go from 20px all the way up to 58px!
Vernon Fowler

A Beginner's Guide to Pairing Fonts | Webdesigntuts+ - 2 views

webdesign.tutsplus.com/...ginners-guide-to-pairing-fonts

fonts webdesign web design typography

shared by Vernon Fowler on 10 Sep 12 - No Cached
  • Using multiple fonts together can be difficult, achieving harmony is challenging, but if you manage it the result can be decorative and striking. Use fewer fonts and your task is more straight forward. Try to make the best of both worlds by selecting fonts with multiple variants and weights. In this way you can take advantage of an array of styles, safe in the knowledge that they’ll compliment each other just fine.
  • What’s the Nature of my Content? When selecting fonts it’s important to consider the nature of the layout you’re dealing with. Are we talking mainly body copy? Are there multiple headings, sub-headings? Perhaps it’s a magazine layout with decks, blockquotes? When using multiple fonts make sure that the roles are clearly established; if one font is used as a sub-heading, don’t switch to another font for a sub-heading elsewhere. Keep a font’s purpose clear.
  • How Do I Achieve Successful Pairing? You might have already heard this; successful pairing relies on concord, or contrast, but not conflict. That is to say your selected fonts can work well together by sharing certain qualities, or by being completely different from one another. However, font pairs can conflict in a number of ways – being too similar being just one.
  • ...7 more annotations...
  • The x-height of a font describes the height from the base line to the upper reaches of the lower case characters, like the x. A proportionately large x-height helps with readability.
  • Pairing 2: Contrast Contrast between fonts often lends a winning combination, but in what ways can fonts contrast? Here are just some qualities to look for: Style: Take a look at any font resource site and you’ll see them categorized as Blackletter, Monospace, Script, Slab Serif etc. Fonts of different styles will often contrast. Size: Big font, little font. Say no more. Weight: Varying the weight of fonts is a common way to establish visual hierarchy. Hierarchy achieved by contrast. Form: Consider the proportions of a typeface. The relative length of the descenders, the curvature of the shoulders, the direction of the movement. Color: Not something we’re going to go into here, but color can easily determine whether two fonts work well together.
  • It’s a classic way of pairing; take a decorative serif for the heading and a sure-footed sans-serif for the body. Or take a no-nonsense sans-serif for the headings, with a pleasantly legible serif for the body. A winner in many cases. Let’s look at a few, kicking off with two system fonts. That’s right, even they can work well together.
  • Condensed fonts always work well to get your attention, as they take up a lot of vertical real estate.
  • Slab serifs make very effective attention grabbers, but can be a bit pushy if you’re not careful.
  • Pairing 3: Conflict Let’s not focus too much on what doesn’t work well, we don’t want to sour the joyous combinations in the rest of this guide do we? That said, let’s just illustrate how two fonts, which are arguably too similar, can look awkward together.
  • Once you’ve concluded that you don’t like a font pairing, try to work out why and it will help you make decisions more quickly in the future.
Vernon Fowler

Don't Use The Placeholder Attribute - Smashing Magazine - 4 views

www.smashingmagazine.com/...placeholder-attribute

inclusive input formdesign aria forms inclusivedesign hint accessibility form html

shared by Vernon Fowler on 27 Jun 18 - No Cached
  • To recap, the placeholder attribute: Can’t be automatically translated; Is oftentimes used in place of a label, locking out assistive technology; Can hide important information when content is entered; Can be too light-colored to be legible; Has limited styling options; May look like pre-filled information and be skipped over.
  • Move the placeholder content above the input, but below the label:
  • Development Here’s how to translate our designed example to code:
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  • aria-describedby ensures that the p content will be described last, after the label’s content and the kind of input it is associated with.
  • By using aria-describedby to programmatically associate the input with the p element, we are creating a priority of information for screen readers that has parity with what a person browsing without a screen reader would experience.
  • The floating label effect, a close cousin to this phenomenon, oftentimes utilizes the placeholder attribute in place of a label, as well.
  • Content hidden by an on-screen keyboard. 3rd party keyboards with larger heights may have a greater risk of blocking important content.
  • Vernon Fowler on 27 Jun 18
     
    Not only argues for not using the placeholder attribute but also describes an inclusive input hint and how to code it.
  • anonymous on 24 Oct 18
     
    Protonmail login
Vernon Fowler

How to make whitespace work on the Web | Webdesigner Depot - 8 views

www.webdesignerdepot.com/...ake-whitespace-work-on-the-web

DIG252 webdesign whitespace readability legibility color colour colours

shared by Vernon Fowler on 27 Jul 14 - No Cached
Aaron Rylaarsdam

Designing for your target audience | Webdesigner Depot - 0 views

www.webdesignerdepot.com/...gning-for-your-target-audience

psychographics demographics design target audience

shared by Aaron Rylaarsdam on 11 Jan 12 - No Cached
soffy125 liked it
  • The first thing you have to figure out about your target audience is who they are. What kind of things do they do? What kind of music do they listen to? What products do they use? How old are they? The answers to these questions and many more will help you better understand the people you are designing for. Getting an understanding of these individuals helps you create with ease and make something you know will relate to them and end up communicating well.
  • Again, you have to know the target audience. If you or your client have no idea who you’re designing for, you’re really taking a stab in the dark and hoping and praying you come up with something. There are times when you may have a wide variety of people in your audience, but you’ve got to find a commonality between the majority of folks.
    • Aaron Rylaarsdam
      Aaron Rylaarsdam on 11 Jan 12
       
      This is a good article about psychographics and knowing your target audience.
  • ...11 more annotations...
  • Also be aware that you’ve got to ask the right questions. If I want to know why people like that t-shirt design, I’m not going to ask them what size shirt they wear, I’m going to focus on the design. For example, why they like the design or what it means to them. You want to ask questions that will help you figure your audience out and help you make educated guesses on the things they’ll like in the future.
  • Keep in mind, demographic information is only useful to a certain extent. You still need to figure out what your audience likes and what they feel (as well as what they like to feel). Don’t get so caught up in asking the regular boring questions about age and income that you forget to ask about their interests as well.
  • Say that your web designs allow users to connect with a company in ways that were never imagined. Say that your product isn’t just a product but it contributes to your life in much deeper ways.
  • Try to highlight what you can do for them and not just your skill set.
  • Once you feel like you have a good grasp on your target market, you need to have an even better grasp of what you’re trying to do or what it is you are trying to design for. If you are trying to sell a product or service, what are you trying to convey about that product or service?
  • The greatest fundamental theory that you cannot ever lose is be visual hierarchy. As a designer, you have to remember and understand that you have all the power of figuring out what your audience looks at when they look at a flyer or a package. Use that to your advantage in everything you do. This theory basically states that you create hierarchy or importance based on what is the biggest and what is the smallest. While that’s the first contributor, the second contributor is going to be placement. Your most important visual, whether it be a headline or a picture, should be above or at eye level. Putting it below eye level or out of the initial view is a complete and total waste of time.
  • A lot of times, we want people to stop and notice something crazy we’ve done with a layout or something, but we shouldn’t be reinventing the wheel, we should just be making sure everything makes sense and is legible. You want whoever sees your visual to get the main points even if they’re only passing by.
  • As I said before, as a graphic designer, I just want to do fun designs with crazy colors, cool shapes, and illustrations. For my own personal business that works, because I tend to cater to trendier, younger folks who are interested in trying new things. However, sometimes I get a client who is less interested in that. I sometimes get clients who are extremely corporate, so I have to pull myself in a bit as they aren’t interested at all in cool and crazy designs. I don’t bore them to death with my design, but I will make sure there is focus on what needs focus.
  • Many times we can get caught up in ourselves and what we want, but it has nothing to do with what we want, and everything to do with what the audience wants.
  • Many designers and owners believe a website’s sole purpose is to tell everyone about your product or service and why it’s completely awesome. Well, I beg to differ. A website is supposed to be an extension of your business and should be used to communicate with current customers as well as potential customers. Keep it consistent with your target market and make yourself available on your website.
  • Make sure you have a clear message on your site—if you sell several products try to highlight one. If you have several different services highlight one or highlight the reasons why people keep coming back; create a feeling. No matter the demographics of your audience, your website should be clear and consistent.
  • Aaron Rylaarsdam on 11 Jan 12
     
    I found this to be a great article about understanding who your target audience is when designing not only for personal purposes for my own business but also for the businesses that I design for.
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