Writing a Little Book On Professional Web Typography

When Advanced Web Design, a course I supposed to teach this semester, got dropped just a few days before the first class begin, I was devastated. Not because I did not get to teach, but because I needed a four-credit course to finish my Master of Arts in Graphic Design in the fall. Teaching was to be counted toward my studio elective class.

Out of desperation to fill in my elective, I proposed to write a little book on web typography. To my amazement, my professor accepted it and agreed to be my advisor. Even though this is something I am passionate about and have wanted to do it for a while, I had never written anything longer than a blog post. Though I am not a writer, I would like to take on the challenge.

One of the reasons I wanted to write this book is to scratch my own itch. In recent years, typography is exploded on the web, but I haven’t found a book that teaches me professional typography and shows me the CSS techniques at the same time.

When Jason Santa Maria released his book On Web Typography last summer, I was thrilled. Finally someone who is well respected in the industry wrote a book on this topic. On Web Typography is an excellent read and I highly recommend it, but Jason chose to leave out the codes. His reason is that the codes will get outdated quickly and he wanted his book to stay relevant for years to come. I understand his intention.

As for my little book, the primary purpose is to get an “A” for my four-credit independent study, but I would also like to publish it online. It won’t be printed or in an e-book format. I have decided to publish it in HTML for three main reasons: it could be read on any device; I have control of the design; and I can continue to update it as the codes continue to change.

The book will be online in early May. I will model after Mathew Butterick’s approach on how to pay for this book. All contents will be available for you to read. If you like what you read, you can pay for it in any amount you like to support. The book will be out in early May.