The properties CSS provides for styling text are derived largely from the characteristics of letterforms and characters, that is, the shapes of the letters and characters that constitute text. The characteristics of letterforms, illustrated in Figure 13.1, determine the way different types of letterform fit together, the appearances of text, and the design situations for which they are suitable. The art and techniques of designing letterforms, which is usually described as typography or type design, is typically out of the scope of Web design, but there are enough types available to suit almost any design situation.
FIGURE 13.1 The main characteristics of a type
Source: Sklar David (2016), HTML: A Gentle Introduction to the Web’s Most Popular Language, O’Reilly Media; 1st edition.