#111 - Subtract rather than add
Hey everyone,
Welcome to issue #111, your weekly roundup of what’s happening in design, code and typography.
Here’s your weekly roundup of interesting links on design, code and typography.
This week I’ve included two quotes from Design as Art, the Penguin Classic by Bruno Munari. I picked up a copy whilst at Tate Modern for the Dóra Maurer exhibition. Both book and exhibition challenge the way we view the world.
Thought provoking #
“Subtract rather than add: this rule must be understood in the sense of reaching simplicity, getting at the essence of the object by eliminating anything superfluous until no further simplification is possible.”
”By designing without any stylistic or formal preconceived notions, and tending towards the natural formation of things, one gets the essence of a product.”
Bruno Munari in Design as Art.
Design and Code #
Designing a focus style from Zell Leiw explores the inconsistency of the default focus ring across browsers, the various approach designers take to solve this.
Create a semantic “breakout” button to make an entire element clickable. Andy Bell shares a better technical
Sara Soueidan on Applied Accessibility. Practical Tips For Building More Accessible Front-Ends at SmashingConf Feiburg 2019.
Style your default global links using the :not CSS selector. A quick tip from Alex Carpenter.
htmlhead.dev, a free guide to HTML5 elements from Josh Buchea.
Typography #
Reviving Type is a new book from Nóra Békés and Céline Hurka on the importance of historical typefaces, and how they can be revived today for a contemporary audience. Two Revivals is a talk on their process.
Greta Grotesk, a free font based on the bold handwritten lettering found in the posters made by of 16 year old climate activist Greta Thunberg.
Computer-Age Typography: Hybrid Legibility Explains that Ubiquitous Check Font.
Lautsprecher. An Oddball Loudspeaker of a Font, Revived After Being Presumed Lost to History.
Something to watch #
Powers of Ten is a 1977 film from the office of Charles and Ray Eames, made for IBM. It explores the relative size of things in the universe and the effect of adding another zero.