We're going to focus on a few simple ways to make a page more readable

Aren't you sick of websites that look like this? (Or this one: Dr. Mac) Text stuck in the corner, Times New Roman, black and white, blech. 😖

Using five lines of CSS...

font-family

font-size

line-height

margin-left

margin-right

And the font pairings showcased here...

Google Web Fonts Typographic Project

We're going to explore basic principles of readability and typography...so that our websites stop looking like this.

This is a heading

Here I can write a paragraph introduction. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Donec a diam lectus. Sed sit amet ipsum mauris. Maecenas congue ligula ac quam viverra nec consectetur ante hendrerit. Donec et mollis dolor. Praesent et diam eget libero egestas mattis sit amet vitae augue. Nam tincidunt congue enim, ut porta lorem lacinia consectetur. Donec ut libero sed arcu vehicula ultricies a non tortor. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Aenean ut gravida lorem. Ut turpis felis, pulvinar a semper sed, adipiscing id dolor. Pellentesque auctor nisi id magna consequat sagittis. Curabitur dapibus enim sit amet elit pharetra tincidunt feugiat nisl imperdiet. Ut convallis libero in urna ultrices accumsan. Donec sed odio eros. Donec viverra mi quis quam pulvinar at malesuada arcu rhoncus. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. In rutrum accumsan ultricies. Mauris vitae nisi at sem facilisis semper ac in est.

This is a subheading

Vivamus fermentum semper porta. Nunc diam velit, adipiscing ut tristique vitae, sagittis vel odio. Maecenas convallis ullamcorper ultricies. Curabitur ornare, ligula semper consectetur sagittis, nisi diam iaculis velit, id fringilla sem nunc vel mi. Nam dictum, odio nec pretium volutpat, arcu ante placerat erat, non tristique elit urna et turpis. Quisque mi metus, ornare sit amet fermentum et, tincidunt et orci. Fusce eget orci a orci congue vestibulum. Ut dolor diam, elementum et vestibulum eu, porttitor vel elit. Curabitur venenatis pulvinar tellus gravida ornare. Sed et erat faucibus nunc euismod ultricies ut id justo. Nullam cursus suscipit nisi, et ultrices justo sodales nec. Fusce venenatis facilisis lectus ac semper. Aliquam at massa ipsum. Quisque bibendum purus convallis nulla ultrices ultricies. Nullam aliquam, mi eu aliquam tincidunt, purus velit laoreet tortor, viverra pretium nisi quam vitae mi. Fusce vel volutpat elit. Nam sagittis nisi dui.

What's happening here?

There are three kinds of typefaces on this page:

1. Serif: look at a (printed) book. You'll find a serif typeface.

2. Sans serif: these look modern, technical, and lighter. Smartphones, the NYC Subway signs- all Sans serif.

3. Monospace: Ever seen a typewriter?

Deliberately using contrasting font types for different elements (body text vs. headings, for example) helps users more easily navigate content.

Coding connection: Why do you think we always see code written in monospace fonts?

I'm also deliberately using just 3 colors- one for body, one for headings, and one for code. Trying to follow the Principles of Flag Design. And I suppose one more for Flag...


<!DOCTYPE html>
<html >
  <head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8">
    <title>Readability & Typography</title>
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="css/style.css">
    
  </head>
  <body>
    <!-- Here, I'm using Google Fonts... -->
    <head>
      <link href='http://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Crimson+Text:400,400italic,700' rel='stylesheet' type='text/css'>
      <link href='http://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Julius+Sans+One' rel='stylesheet' type='text/css'>
      <link href='http://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Oswald' rel='stylesheet' type='text/css'>
    </head>
    <h1>This is a heading</h1>
    <!-- This is dummy text, used by typographers for centuries. -->
    <p>Here I can write a paragraph introduction. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Donec a diam lectus. Sed sit amet ipsum mauris. Maecenas congue ligula ac quam viverra nec consectetur ante hendrerit. Donec et mollis dolor. Praesent et diam eget libero egestas mattis sit amet vitae augue. Nam tincidunt congue enim, ut porta lorem lacinia consectetur. Donec ut libero sed arcu vehicula ultricies a non tortor. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Aenean ut gravida lorem. Ut turpis felis, pulvinar a semper sed, adipiscing id dolor. Pellentesque auctor nisi id magna consequat sagittis. Curabitur dapibus enim sit amet elit pharetra tincidunt feugiat nisl imperdiet. Ut convallis libero in urna ultrices accumsan. Donec sed odio eros. Donec viverra mi quis quam pulvinar at malesuada arcu rhoncus. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. In rutrum accumsan ultricies. Mauris vitae nisi at sem facilisis semper ac in est.</p>
    <h2>This is a subheading</h2>
    <!-- Practice making comments with ⌘/ -->
    <!-- More dummy text! -->
    <p>Vivamus fermentum semper porta. Nunc diam velit, adipiscing ut tristique vitae, sagittis vel odio. Maecenas convallis ullamcorper ultricies. Curabitur ornare, ligula semper consectetur sagittis, nisi diam iaculis velit, id fringilla sem nunc vel mi. Nam dictum, odio nec pretium volutpat, arcu ante placerat erat, non tristique elit urna et turpis. Quisque mi metus, ornare sit amet fermentum et, tincidunt et orci. Fusce eget orci a orci congue vestibulum. Ut dolor diam, elementum et vestibulum eu, porttitor vel elit. Curabitur venenatis pulvinar tellus gravida ornare. Sed et erat faucibus nunc euismod ultricies ut id justo. Nullam cursus suscipit nisi, et ultrices justo sodales nec. Fusce venenatis facilisis lectus ac semper. Aliquam at massa ipsum. Quisque bibendum purus convallis nulla ultrices ultricies. Nullam aliquam, mi eu aliquam tincidunt, purus velit laoreet tortor, viverra pretium nisi quam vitae mi. Fusce vel volutpat elit. Nam sagittis nisi dui.</p>
        
  </body>
</html>

h1, h2 {
  font-family: "Oswald", Helvetica Neue;
  font-size: 72px;
  text-align: center;
  color: #3C8FFF;
}

h2 {
  font-size: 36px;
  /*color: gray;*/
}

p {
  font-family: "Crimson Text", Georgia;
  font-size: 22px;
  line-height: 1.5;
  margin-left: 10%;
  margin-right: 10%;
}


Improving site layout with Bootstrap