Typography and the bad bad web
It’s infuriating, sad and pathetic all at the same time. But how was Tim Berners-Lee supposed to know that his academic document tool would become the next high density communication medium of the coming millennium? Typefaces, complex lay-outs (heck even simple lay-outs), baseline grids, measure and kerning never played a part in his considerations it seems. Perhaps just as well, the web may have never happened otherwise.
We’re here now and to the dismay of many designers the web and typography still don’t get along very well. You have to force them to work together and suffer the less than perfect result.
To deliver typography on the web you have to come to terms with the fact that it took the evolution of printing centuries to rise the level it reached before computers started doing Desk Top Publishing (DTP) during the 80’s.