Statement of Research Interests
As a web designer and an adjunct professor who has a passion for typography, I researched and wrote a book on web typography. Professional Web Typography was my independent study in pursuing my Master of Arts (MA) degree in graphic design at George Mason University.
The first edition of Professional Web Typography was released as a web book in 2015 when web fonts started to take off. At the time, I could not find a book that combined typography principles with web technologies; therefore, I decided to write the book myself.
With my experience of designing websites for over two decades, I understood the importance of legibility, readability, usability, and accessibility when setting type on the web; therefore, I delved into topics such as selecting body text, choosing headlines, picking type for user interface, and discerning typographical details.
My goal was to prove that typesetting on the web was fun and rewarding—not intimidating. As a result, I kept the technical aspects as simple as possible. Back in 2015, variable font was still in its infancy. Not all browsers adopted variable fonts. Today, browser makers, type creators, and web designers are all on board.
My current research is to show the benefits of variable fonts for designing web experiences. Using just a few lines of CSS, designers can have a wide range of possibilities including setting specific weight, width, and optical size.
My future research is to expand the power of variable fonts to make the web experiences more diverse. One of my research interests is language support. As a native Vietnamese speaker and writer, my goal is to see more support for the Vietnamese in typefaces.