SARA CANNON HTTP://RAN.GE
Sara Cannon 
Partner & Creative Director 
at Range http://ran.ge 
@saracannon 
slideshare.net/saracannon
“Design is the method of 
putting form and content 
together” 
- PAUL RAND
WEB DESIGN IS 
95% 
TYPOGRAPHY 
- OLIVER REICHENSTEIN
Craigslist
Craigslist Redesign Concept by Lance Culbreth
NYTimes
What does Type have to do 
with User Experience?
BAD TYPOGRAPHY 
= 
BAD USER 
EXPERIENCE
Body copy is too small 
or unreadable
Not enough white space
too much letterspacing on 
body
“Don’t letterspace the lowercase 
without a reason… 
A man who would letterspace lowercase 
would steal sheep … If this wisdom 
needs updating, it is chiefly to add that a 
woman who would letterspace 
lowercase would steal sheep as well” 
- ROBERT BRINGHURST - 
“THE ELEMENTS OF TYPOGRAPHICAL STYLE”
Poor typeface choices
Drudge Report
Drudge Report
Drudge Report
What does Type have to do 
with User Experience?
GOOD TYPOGRAPHY 
= 
GOOD USER 
EXPERIENCE
“Typography exists to 
honor content” 
- ROBERT BRINGHURST- 
“THE ELEMENTS OF TYPOGRAPHICAL STYLE”
gather.ly 
Adobe Garamond Pro & Freight Sans Pro
Medium
“Contrast is, in my humble opinion, 
the most crucial tenet of 
graphic design. 
It forges connections and distinctions 
between elements.” 
- JASON SANTAMARIA - 
“ON WEB TYPOGRAPHY”
Medium
Medium
AdAge
nautil.us
type 
IN COMMUNICATION
“All design work seems to have 
three common traits: 
there is the message to the work, 
the tone of that message, 
and the format the work takes” 
- FRANK CHIMERO
rsq.com
Moon Camp
WhoaNellyCatering.com
Digital 
Storytelling
nytimes.com/projects/2012/snow-fall
theguardian.com/world/interactive/2013/nov/01/snowden-nsa- 
files-surveillance-revelations-decoded
pitchfork.com/features/articles/9467-wax-and-wane-the-tough- 
realities-behind-vinyls-comeback
http://aquatilis.tv
type 
IN NAVIGATION & 
PREFORMING TASKS
Hyperlink 
Button 
hyperlink
Design, Develop, 
Measure
“Design and product 
process must change to 
accommodate 
experimentation” 
- DAN MCKINLEY, ETSY -
Get type into the 
browser early as 
possible
OPEN 
type 
& CSS
Ligatures 
font-feature-settings:"liga" 1;
Ligatures 
-moz-font-feature-settings:"liga" 1; 
-moz-font-feature-settings:"liga=1"; 
-ms-font-feature-settings:"liga" 1; 
-o-font-feature-settings:"liga" 1; 
-webkit-font-feature-settings:"liga" 1; 
font-feature-settings:"liga" 1; 
.h1 { 
}
Number Case: Lining (lnumb) 
font-feature-settings:"lnum" 1;
Tabular Figures 
(monospace) 
font-feature-settings: "tnum" 1;
Fractions 
font-feature-settings:"frac" 1;
Alternative Style Sets 
font-feature-settings: "ss01" 1;
Small Caps 
font-feature-settings: "smcp" 1;
clagnut.com/sandbox/css3
COMBINING 
type
femmebot.github.io/google-type
femmebot.github.io/google-type
abookapart.com/products/on-web-typography
The Elements of Typographical Style 
Robert Bringhurst
The Shape of Design - Frank Chimero
LEGIBILITY
Thank You 
@saracannon 
slideshare.net/saracannon 
SARA CANNON HTTP://RAN.GE

Typography and User Experience - WCSF