Webpage Design

I'm currently working up my own rant about what good webpage design is and will post it here when finished. It will include the following excerpt from Choosing and Using Type by Daniel Will Harris.

The least you need to know to get the most out of type

At least 80% of typography is common sense (this is not just some random number grabbed out of the air; it's a random number plucked from my brain). Sure, there are a few things you learned in school that you need to unlearn, but overall, the basics of good type are just that, basic.

  1. Body text should be between 10 and 12 point, with 11 point best for printing to 300 dot-per-inch printers. Use the same typeface, typesize, and leading for all your body copy.
  2. Use enough leading (or line-spacing). Always add at least 1 or 2 points to the type size. Example: If you're using 10 point type, use 12 point leading. Automatic line height will do this for you--never use less than this or your text will be cramped and hard to read.
  3. Don't make your lines too short or too long. Optimum size: Over 30 characters and under 70 characters.
  4. Make paragraph beginnings clear. Use either an indent or block style for paragraphs. Don't use both. Don't use neither, either.
  5. Use only one space after a period, not two.
  6. Don't justify text unless you have to. If you justify text you must use hyphenation.
  7. Don't underline anything, especially not headlines or subheads since lines separate them from the text with which they belong.
  8. Use italics instead of underlines.
  9. Don't set long blocks of text in italics, bold, or all caps because they're harder to read.
  10. Leave more space above headlines and subheads than below them, and avoid setting them in all caps. Use subheads liberally to help readers find what they're looking for.
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