Typography
Written by James Penney Tuesday, 03 February 2009 00:41
A List Apart-“ Setting Type on the Web to a Baseline Grid”
The article dealt with the establishment of the baseline grid and its importance in web design. “The main principle of the baseline grid is that the bottom of every line of text (the baseline) falls on a vertical grid set in even increments all the way down the page.” This idea helps create a multi-column grid layout that maximizes the typeface used. This idea is crucial in web design because unlike print web design has to be compatible with multiple browsers while print is just printed on a piece of paper.
The article then breaks down how to set up a page using the grid, paragraphs and headers, lists, floats and side bars. The article breaks down how to set each one of those items up and explains their importance. When setting up the grid they recommend a 12 pixel font base with a line height of 18 pixels. When establishing paragraphs and headers reset your padding and margins to zero and then as we change font size for headers, you need to change line-heights in multiples of 18, as well as adding the 18 pixel bottom margin. The article uses the same theory for lists, floats and side bars. The fact that keeping everything is controlled in multiples of 18 pixels.