Typography on the ‘net
As I’ve delved further into the world of CSS, I’ve been constantly amazed with what people are doing typographically via that medium. Honestly, I have thought for a long time that with the advent of the internet, the rules and best-practices of typography would be ignored to a greater and greater extent. En-dashes and em-dashes would have very little distinction; small-caps would lose their place in the world; hyphenation would either be abandoned or used with abandon.
Every now and then I come across a page that shows great care and respect for typography and I wonder whether the person who created the page is an island unto themselves. Are they fighting a losing battle with the internet at large? Do they still create pages that uphold typographic ideals, even though it takes a great deal more effort? Should I write them a thank-you note?
I’m coming to realize, however, that the forces of good typography are more widespread than I originally believed. There are video tutorials that can teach folks about letterspacing and leading (”line-height”– we had to compromise on the terminology, it seems). Sites like A List Apart show exactly what’s possible if a developer has an eye toward design and type best-practices. We see through designers like Jason Santa Maria that creativity is unbounded, even in the realm of system-friendly fonts. But the site that really brought all of this home for me is Webtypography.net– a site sprung from the classic book, “The Elements of Typographic Style.”
The site is wholly devoted to giving typographic advice to designers/developers/coders while simultaneously furnishing them with the code used to achieve the desired effect. It’s a godsend for someone like me who is still learning and hacking together what I think is right in order to attain a look that I know is right. Tough stuff, this web stuff. The website is arranged like a beautifully-composed book and that only serves to strengthen my good opinion regarding its content. Check it out if you have any inclination toward improving your typographic style, and code.
Cooking by Design
Alright, alright, I’ve been remiss. Apologies for the extra-long pause in posts. First work took over, then applications took over, and now, in this new year, I hope to be somewhat more consistent about putting thoughts to page.
During the winter months I tend to turn to cooking as a way to warm up (hot oven!), relax (great smells!), and hang with friends and family (who doesn’t love a home-cooked meal?). Recently I was cooking for a friend and told her, quite naturally, that I cook by color. What I didn’t realize is that this is not the way everyone thinks. Loads of people cook by recipe, and while I think that recipes are fine guidelines and excellent teachers, it’s far more interesting to cook by taste and by look.
Cooking by color, or by design, works best with things like salads where the ingredients are kept fresh. Bright cherry tomatoes, crisp bell peppers (in three colors, swooooon), and creamy-green avocados dance together to make a gorgeous, playful visual. The saddest dish by far, color-wise, has to be cream of mushroom soup. While I love the stuff dearly, it’s next to impossible to forget that depressing gray tone.
One of the best parts about cooking by design is that no one dish needs to be color-perfect– an assembly of parts can make for a visually (and gastronomically) satisfying meal. A well-browned meat, dark leafy green vegetables, light saffron rice, and a cheeky fruit juice or wine is more than enough to make a square meal. Often when I feel that a meal is missing something essential, I look to the colors to show me what’s lacking. And often it’s the green that is falling down on the job.
So when you’re next in the kitchen, think about your meal and how it will look once on your plate. Even if it’s a one-dish concoction, like pasta, make it hearty with tomatoes, zucchini, shrimp, and parmesan to give it some real color. Top it off with a sprig of parsley and you’re ready for anything. Both your eyes and your stomach will be pleased.