(Book Review) On Web Typography, 1st Edition

Overview

Review Published: October, 2017.

From designer and wordsmith, Jason Santa Maria, comes a guide to creating beautiful typographic layouts for your digital projects.

From how type actually works when read, to the complexities of pairing typefaces to create the design impact you’re looking for, this book offers an introductory overview of how to effectively use type in the increasingly complex landscape of digital design.

Rating:

4.5 / 5

(Great Content, Presentation is Engaging)

What does this score mean?

Difficulty:

Beginner (Content is clear and simple, with no prior design knowledge needed).

Length:

142 pages.

Where to Buy It:

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What's Good

Communicates the essentials without overwhelming the reader; the author covers the key aspects of great typography without any extra filler, making this book informative yet brief.
Lots of resources for further study; packed with font foundries to explore, software tools to leverage, and further reading (if needed), the author provides a perfect jumping-off point for designers new to typography.
Written to be easily understood and approachable; with concepts explained in plain language and lots of examples, the book does a great job of taking the often esoteric concepts behind great typography and making them accessible.

What Can Be Improved

Responsive typography could use a few examples; while the author gives a brief overview of responsive typography, the discussion just falls short of providing some examples to work from and a short section on this would make a 2nd edition virtually perfect.

The Bottom Line

An approachable and essential resource for typography; if this is the only book you read on typography, you’ll still be well-equipped to create beautiful typographic layouts.
An essential resource for UX Designers & User-Interface specialists; while this book is useful for any UX designer, it’s an essential read for people that spend most of their time dealing with product interfaces.
Provides a surprisingly detailed overview at a very low cost; while this book is designed to provide an overview of how typography works, it fits in a lot of valuable detail you can immediately begin using in your designs for only around $14.