Course Description

Typography is the practice of arranging type within a design. When you design a page for print, you control the size of the paper and the placement of the elements. On the web the size, resolution, fonts, and even the layout of your page can vary with the browser and the system used to view your site. Web Typography is going through considerable changes. New techniques along with new web browser capabilities are giving Web Typography new life. This online course will take a fresh look at Web Typography and explore all the new possibilities that are available. Some things we will discuss include: Web safe fonts and downloadable fonts New web font services Using emphasis, contrast, and scale Practical methods for achieving quality typography with current technologies Best practices for creating appealing designs using typographic style principals developed specifically for the web Future of web typography When you finish this course you will be able to use Web Typography to transform your website into a work of art. This is a 6 week, self-paced, online course. If you need additional help understanding the material presented, you can communicate with the instructor and fellow classmates. The instructor will monitor and track your progress throughout the class. LVS Online offers many wonderful learning tools to help you get the most out of your online course, including an online portfolio service that manages all your course registrations, certificate of completion option, a class discussion board to interact with your instructor and fellow classmates, free hosting account, and a student upload area. LVS is a Corel Training Partner. LVS students may purchase Corel products at a significant savings. Follow this link for details. LVS students are eligible to receive software and hardware at a discount. Follow this link for details. Students are also eligible take advantage of special offers made available specifically for LVS by famous software developers such as Andromeda, AV Bros, Extensis, Harry Heim, namesuppressed, Nik Multimedia, and Ulead. Details are provided in the classinfo link found in the confirmation of registration. Show off your LVS Online spirit with an item from the LVS Store If you would like to receive more information regarding this course, click on the "Contact Us" link in the Information section and we'll try to answer any of your questions within the day.

Course Requirements

Students should be able to work through the lessons step-by-step, accurately, with the course materials provided. Each lesson builds on the previous one so each should be completed sequentially. Students should have working knowledge of their operating system and must understand directories and paths: Free Windows Class Here Directory Structure Tutorial Here Zip files may be necessary to complete the exercises provided each week. WinZip, PKZip, Windows Compression or similar program is required to unzip these files. Winzip Tutorial Here Windows Compression All lessons are available in PDF format. Adobe Acrobat Reader is required to view/print the lessons. Plan to devote 3 - 5 hours per week on the lesson and assignment; on this class that may vary according to how much experimenting you choose to do with actions and the other subjects of the class.

Course Prerequisites

Students are required to have some previous knowledge of HTML and CSS.

Course Syllabus

Lesson 1 History of Web Typography Typography on the Screen Professional Web type Lesson 2 Anatomy of a Character Character and Text Encoding Lesson 3 CSS Font Families Web Safe Fonts Web Font Linking Lesson 4 Designing with Type Size and Type Space Text Alignment and Balance Lesson 5 Typography as a Design Element Using Emphasis and Contrast Lesson 6 Using Grids The Future of Web Typography

Course Excerpt

Typography in web design plays an integral part in setting the tone, theme, and message of a website. Typography is the practice of arranging type within a design. This includes the typeface, size, spacing, color, and style of the type. It also deals with designing type and its interaction with other elements on the page. Some other elements include photos and illustrations. You can call attention to particular parts of the content and deemphasize others by changing the font's color, line-height, style, and size. An effective palette of fonts not only makes a design attractive, but also contributes to the readability and usability of the content. Exciting new possibilities for Web designers are just beginning with the advances in Web Typography that have happened recently and others that are about to happen. Typography adds life to text in many different ways including the use of: Characters and Symbols - text is created by individual glyphs each with its own unique shape and meaning Fonts and Typefaces - typefaces make the first impression. You need the right font to speak the right message Scale and Rhythm - spacing and alignment control how the reader understands the text through space and time. Control the tempo of the message and guide the reader from beginning to end Emphasis and Contrast - styles determine the impact your text will have on the reader. Use well thought-out styles to add highlights and counterpoints to your message Grid and Composition - layout of text in a expected sequence aids the reader's understanding of the page. Use the grid to create order and establish structure. Web design is 95% Typography. Today on the web most typography is left to the default settings of a particular operating system or application. The type you choose for your web page communicates visual information. This is like everyone speaking in the same tone of voice with no variation from one person to another. This would be dull and monotonous! Do we want our web pages to be dull and monotonous!?! I don't think so! So let's do something about it! What is a Font? The terms typeface and font are commonly used similarly but they actually have two different meanings. A font is a collection of glyphs with one specific weight, style, and variant. For instance this is Lucida Calligraphy and this is Lucida Bright. Typeface is a collection of glyphs that make up numbers, letters, symbols, and punctuation marks. It includes different weights and styles like italics and bold. It is commonly referred to as font families or type families. A typeface adds an extra visual layer, called a "skin", to the text beyond the simple shape: A A A A A. A letter is represented by lines. Each letterform, called a glyph, is the same letter with the same basic characteristics. Each glyph's "skin" suggests something completely different about the letter. A classification system for Web Typography was created by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) to classify typefaces for use in Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). The three most well known typefaces are Times (serif), Arial (sans serif), and Courier (monospace). Continued... Please note: Lessons provide step-by-step instructions with detailed screen captures.

Course Goals

The goal is to make students familiar with the importance of Web Typography and how to use it for designing your site.

Course Reviews

New Class September 2010