As well as the fixed-width layout, grid design and subtle details I wrote about yesterday, the typography is an essential element of site design. I have not quite climbed up to the sharp edge of what is possible — dynamically embedded fonts and the like — but I feel that I have made some steps forward over the cramped use of Arial on the previous version.

I have opted for Trebuchet MS as the main font for the site. It is a pleasantly proportioned font, widely available and one of those recommended by the University style guidelines. As well as the font itself, spacing is also important. The line-height for most of the site is 1.7 – almost double spacing and enough room for the text to breathe. Combined with the columns of the grid format, preventing any indivdual line of text becoming too long and I think the result is very readable (and also able to cope with the varying ways it renders on different browsers and computers).

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