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Color & Typography for the Web

Color & Typography for the Web. Rachael Gilg INF 385E: Information Architecture & Design October 12, 2004. Why are color & typography important in IA?. Structuring & ordering content Create hierarchies / order Aid navigation Draw attention to page elements

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Color & Typography for the Web

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  1. Color & Typography for the Web Rachael Gilg INF 385E: Information Architecture & Design October 12, 2004

  2. Why are color & typography important in IA? • Structuring & ordering content • Create hierarchies / order • Aid navigation • Draw attention to page elements • Communicating using visual language • Solving problems

  3. How Web color works • RGB vs. CMYK • Web vs. print • Additive vs. subtractive • Representing colors on the Web • Hexidecimal system (RRGGBB) • Named colors • RGB values / percentages RGB CMYK Equivalent color units (CSS) red #f00 #ff0000 rgb(255,0,0) rgb(100%, 0%, 0%)

  4. Technical mediating factorsor, fear of the “dreaded 216” • Monitors (bit-depth setting) • 8 bit = 256 colors (4% of users) • 16 bit “high color” = 65,000 colors (30%) • 24 bit “true color” = 16.7+ million colors (66%) • Browsers • Dithering • “Web-safe” colors • Platforms / Monitors (color calibration) • Gamma (contrast) settings • 1.8 for Mac, 2.2 for PC statistics source:http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.asp

  5. Human mediating factors • Visual perception • Color sensitivity • Visual color deficiency (“Color Blindness”) • Eye fatigue • Emotions / mood • Cultural background • Aesthetics

  6. Dimensions of Color • Hue = shade • Saturation = purity • Luminance = brightness • Relativity!!

  7. Designing with color • Use contrast for structure & hierarchy • Color palettes • Monochromatic • Complementary • Analogous • Customization with CSS

  8. Color Palette Examples Monochromatic - http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/foster/ Complementary http://www.pbs.org/empires/romans/ Analogous - http://www.pbs.org/animateddogs/

  9. II. Typography • “Typography exists to honor content.” - Robert Bringhurst • Verbal & visual • Creates hierarchy to understand relationships • Web typography considerations • Legibility • Readability • Accessibility / Customization

  10. Evolution of digital typography • Graphical User Interfaces • HTML • Separates design from structure • Emphasis on interoperability, not visual style • CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) • separates visual style from document structure • greater typographic control with less code • more formatting options

  11. Font styles on the Web • Best choice for screen: sans-serif, large size, exaggerated x-height Verdana x Times x • High contrast with background color • Anticipate size variability • Avoid ALL CAPS & use “downstyle” headlines • Use emphasis sparingly, 1 parameter • Colored / underlined have special meanings • Specify fonts for each platform • Be consistent • Match style to content

  12. Formatting • Overall pattern of organization & visual contrast • Establish visual pattern using grid system • Alignment • Left-justified with ragged edge is best • Line Length • Columns of text no wider than 365 px. • Anticipate expanding layouts / wrapping • White space is your friend!

  13. Example: WWW Consortiumhttp://www.w3c.org

  14. Example: The Atlantichttp://www.theatlantic.com

  15. Example: Buglighthttp://www.donbarnett.com

  16. Sources Bringhurst, R. (1992). Elements of Typographic Style. Vancouver: Hartley & Marks. Gorn, G. J., Chattopadhyay, A., Sengupta, J., & Tripathi, S. (May, 2004). Waiting for the Web: how screen color affects time perception. In Journal of Marketing Research, pp. 215-225. Hall, R. H. & Hanna, P. (May-June, 2004). The impact of web page text-background colour combinations on readability, retention, aesthetics and behavioural intention. In Behaviour & Information Technology, 23:3, pp. 183-195. Lehn, D. & Stern, H. (September 6, 2002). Death of the websafe Color palette? Retrieved October 7, 2004 from the Webmonkey Web site at http://webmonkey.wired.com/webmonkey/00/37/index2a.html?tw=design Loxley, S. (2004). Type: the secret history of letters. London: I.B. Tauris Lynch, P. J. (2002). Web style guide: basic principles for creating Web site, 2nd edition. New Haven: Yale University Press. (also online at http://www.webstyleguide.com) Mahnke, F.H. & Mahnke, R.H. (1987). Color and light in man-made environments. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Company. Paper vs. Pixels Part 2. (September, 2004). Retrieved October 5, 2004 from the Web page design for designers Web site at http://www.wpdfd.com/editorial/wpd0904news.htm#feature2 Pring, R. (2000). WWW.color: effective use of color in web page design. New York: Watson-Guptil Publications. Wikipedia. Web colors. Retrieved October 6, 2004 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_color . World Wide Web Consortium. (May, 2003). CSS3 Color Module. Retrieved October 7, 2004 from http://www.w3.org/TR/2003/CR-css3-color-20030514/.

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