compsci

-WHAT IS MULTIMEDIA
-MULTIMEDIA HISTORY
-DESIGN TIPS
-FONT/TEXT TIPS
Computer Science 1033 – Week 1
“If the Force of Yoda's is so strong, construct a sentence with
words in the proper order then why can't he?  Unix Fortune

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Overview of Today’s Topics
 A bit of a mishmash 
 Overview of multimedia in general
 A bit of the history of multimedia
 A little bit about monitors and display
 Design tips
 Usage of text on a website

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Textbook Readings
 Introduction
◦ All of it (it’s not very long!)
 Graphics
◦ What are Graphics?
◦ Basics of Graphics
◦ Design Principles and Considerations

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Big Ideas for Today
 Big Idea 1: First Impressions Matter!
◦ Using senses to communicate
◦ How do we spread ideas
◦ Why use the Internet?
 Big Idea 2: What makes one design look
better than another?
◦ CRAP
 Big Idea 3: Monitors and Needlepoint!
 Big Idea 4: Fonts
◦ Are you a font savant?

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What is Multimedia? (term coined
around 1962)
 Some definitions:
◦ Wikipedia  “Multimedia is media and
content that uses a combination of different
content forms.”
◦ Merriam Webster  Their definition is
actually a multimedia definition 
http://www.merriam-
webster.com/dictionary/multimedia
◦ Cambridge Dictionary  “using a
combination of moving and still pictures,
sound, music and words, especially in
computers or entertainment”

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 All the definitions encompass different
ways (more than one) of expressing
something.
 How do we express ourselves?

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Exercise
 Find one or two other people in the room
and take 2 minutes to introduce yourself
 Find out:
◦ Their favourite movie(s)
◦ Where they went to high school
◦ Farthest country from London, Ontario that
one of their grandparents is from
◦ What one thing do they hope to learn in this
class

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Making an Impression
 How long do you think you have before
someone makes a judgement about you?
◦ In her book The Four-Minute Sell, Janet Elsea
says you have just 7 to 15 seconds to make a
good first impression.
◦ You have about four minutes total for
someone to decide if he or she wants to go
beyond that first four minutes (therein lies the
four-minute sell).

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Now consider after you first arrive
at a website…
 How long does it take you to decide if you
want to stay or if you want to leave this
site?
 QUESTION: What makes you want to
leave a website rather than investing
more time in it?
◦ http://vandelaydesign.com/blog/design-
process/why-visitors-leave/

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How can we communicate?
 Via the five senses:
◦ Sight
◦ Smell
◦ Sound
◦ Touch
◦ Taste
 QUESTION: Which ones can we utilize for
communication on the web?
 Multimedia application  an application that
can be used to present text, sound, video,
images and animation (technical definition)...
http://www.simworx.co.uk/dimensions-4d5d-
effects-theatres/

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Multimedia Uses
 To Inform:
◦ http://www.cbc.ca/radio/
 To Educate:
◦ How to parallel park
 To Sell and Run Businesses:
◦ http://www.chapters.ca
◦ http://www.monster.ca
◦ http://www.eharmony.ca
 To Entertain:

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Why communicate via the web?
 QUESTION: What are the ways we can communicate or
“spread a message” to other people? Can you name some
ways? How did/does propaganda work? What did people
used to do to spread a message?
◦ Other people
◦ Telephone
◦ Radio
◦ TV
◦ Newspaper/Magazines
◦ World Wide Web (Question: What are some of the benefits of
the World Wide Web over the other methods mentioned
above?)
◦ Tweeting (think Egypt or Hong Kong!)
 The World Wide Web is:
◦ Fast
◦ Cheap (sometimes free!)
◦ Usually Current
◦ Accessible by millions

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The World Wide Web is the: Voice of Power!
1. Which area do you think has the most people?
1. Africa,
2. Asia
3. Europe,
4. Latin American/Caribbean
5. Middle East,
6. North America
7. Oceania/Australia
2. Which area do you think has the most Internet users?
3. Which area is the smallest, has the least users?
Info from: http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm

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The Future Are you ready?
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9FO
yoS3Fag
 QUESTION: What is the difference
between the World Wide Web and the
Internet?

Great Moments in
Multimedia History
Before the 1800s
15,000 -13,000 BC  Prehistoric humans paint
images on the walls of their caves Grotte de Lascaux,
France
Also…
•1041AD  Bi Sheng
invents movable type in
China using clay letters.
•1450  Johann
Gutenburg introduces
movable type (with steel
letters), to Europe allowing
mass production of books.
•1702  England’s first
daily newspaper starts
publishing

Great Moments in
Multimedia History
between 1800 and 1900
1895  Louis and Auguste Lumiere make La Sortie
ouviers de l’usine Lumiere, considered the first motion
picture
Also…
•1814 Joseph Nicéphore
Niépce achieves the first
photographic image.
•1837  Louis Daguerre invents
the first practical form of
photographic reproduction.
•1858  Europe and North
America are linked via a
transatlantic telegraph cable. By
1866, news that had once taken
months to travel, now took
seconds
•1877  Thomas Edison invents
the phonograph
•1877  Eadweard Muybridge
invents high speed photography -
creating first moving pictures that
captured motion.

Great Moments in
Multimedia History
1940  Dorothy Kunhardt’s Pat The Bunny is
published. First book to have multimedia and
interactivity: We pat the soft fur of the bunny, play
peek-a-boo, look in the mirror, and then do it all over
again.
Also…
•1914 Animation created by
tracing live action films
(rotoscoping)
•1926  First practical television
system demonstrated
•1927  The Jazz Singer is the
first film to feature spoken
dialogue in sync with the movie.
•1928  Walt Disney debuts
Steamboat Willie, first cartoon to
use synchronized sound.
•1939  The Wizard of Oz
memorably shows the difference
between the colour and black and
white cinematography.

Great Moments in
Multimedia History
1991  Tim Berners Lee invents the World Wide
Web.
Also…
•1962 Telstar, first
communications satellite is
launched into orbit.
•1969  ARPANET (eventually
the Internet) is established by
the U.S. Department of Defence
(more on this later)
•1971  First email sent, @
picked as symbol to indicate
address
•1983  Internet is created when
TCP/IP is adopted by all
ARPANET users
•1991  Tim Berners Lee has
finished developing the World
Wide Web(http) and html and
URL. World Wide Web makes its
debut
•1993  Mosaic, first graphical
web browser is released

Great Moments in
Multimedia History
1995  Disney releases Toy Story, first feature
length computer generated movie.: 77 minutes, 4
years to make, 800,000 machine hours to render.
Also…
•1994The Rolling Stones
become first major band to
broadcast live over the internet.
•1996 Affordable digital
cameras become widely available
•1999  Napster debuts
•2001  Apple introduces iTunes
and the iPod
•2005  youTube.com launches
•2006  First twitter message
sent
•2007  Search engine giant
Google surpasses Microsoft as
"the most valuable global brand,"
and also is the most visited Web
site
Information and dates from:
http://www.webopedia.com/quick_ref/timeline.asp
http://writing.atomicmartinis.com/moments.htm

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Good Design Principles
 https://cheezburger.com/635909/funny-
memes-images-that-prove-design-isnt-
for-everybody
 What can we do to make our websites (or
any marketing material) look a bit more
professional?
 Remember design is all about CRAP!
 Most of this information and some of the
examples are taken from an
EXCELLENT book called: E
◦ The Non-Designer’s Design Book
by Robin Williams

Both boxes above say the same thing.
QUESTION: Which design do you like better: A or B?
QUESTION: Can you put your finger on what makes one
“Better” than the other.
Good Design Is As Easy
as 1-2-3
1. Learn the principles.
They’re simpler than you might think
2. Recognize when you’re not using them.
Put it into words – name the problem.
3. Apply the principles.
You’ll be amazed.
Good Design
is as easy as …
Learn the principles.
They’re simpler than you might think
Recognize when you’re not using
them.
Put it into words – name the problem.
Apply the principles.
You’ll be amazed.
1
2
3
Box A Box B

When designing a webpage
think about CRAP!
Element
Contrast
Repetition
Alignment
Proximity
Overview
 Avoid making 2 elements just
similar, either make them the same
(same font, colour, etc…) or make
them VERY different.
 Repeat some aspect of the design
throughout the entire design i.e.
Bold font, thick rule, bullet, colors,
font types
 Items are aligned - creates stronger
cohesive unit
 Group related items together

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Contrast
Cool Quotes
•See everything, overlook a great
deal, improve a little.
•Between two evil, choose neither;
between two good, choose both.
•Give with no strings attached, and
you will receive in the same
manner
See everything, overlook a great
deal, improve a little.
Between two evil, choose neither;
between two good, choose both.
Give with no strings attached, and
you will receive in the same
manner
Cool Quotes

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Contrast: Another Example
 General Rule: Don’t be wimpy, go bold
or go home!
Examples from: “The Non-Designer’s Design Book by Robin Williams

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 This:
 Is better than this:

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Repetition
 Repetition of
◦ Bullet type
◦ Spacing
◦ Light text
◦ Heavy text
◦ Alignment
◦ Indentation
Brad Pitt
Movies
Thelma and Louise
Legends of the Fall
Oceans Eleven
Relationships
Gwyneth Paltrow
Jennifer Aniston
Angelina Jolie
Childhood
Birthday: December 18, 1963
Born: Shawnee, Oklahoma
References available upon request

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Repetition: Another Example
 QUESTION: What repeated elements
can you find in this webpage?

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Alignment
Fun Things for a Professor to do the
First Day of Classes:
Ask students to call you "Tinkerbelle" or
"Surfin' Bird".
Growl constantly and address students as
"matey".
Show a video on medieval torture
implements to your calculus class.
Giggle throughout it.
Sneeze on students in the front row and wipe
your nose on your tie.
by Alan Meiss
Fun Things for a Professor to do the
First Day of Classes:
Ask students to call you "Tinkerbelle" or
"Surfin' Bird".
Growl constantly and address students as
"matey".
Show a video on medieval torture
implements to your calculus class. Giggle
throughout it.
Sneeze on students in the front row and
wipe your nose on your tie.
by Alan Meiss
This is okay  But this looks better! 

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Alignment: Another Example

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Proximity
 QUESTION: What do you think when you look at
the second box compared to the first box?
 Remember Physically grouping things together
implies a relationship
The Menu
Eggs Benedict
Pecan Crusted Trout
Steak and Kidney Pie
Apple Crisp
Cheese Fondue
Macaroni and Cheese
Strawberry Cheesecake
Lemon Mousse
Caesar Salad
Roast Chicken
The Menu
Eggs Benedict
Pecan Crusted Trout
Steak and Kidney Pie
Apple Crisp
Cheese Fondue
Macaroni and Cheese
Strawberry Cheesecake
Lemon Mousse
Caesar Salad
Roast Chicken

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Proximity: Another Example

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Poster Finalist From 2007
 QUESTION: Can you
see examples of the
four principles that
worked well in this
poster and what
didn’t work well?

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Which poster design do you think achieves the most CRAP
principles?
A B
C D

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Take a few minutes to think about
how you would put these pieces
onto a poster.
1. Hints for Success
2. Review you notes each night after class
3. Read over the lecture notes before you come to class
4. Don’t skip lectures or lab.
5. Every 2 weeks make a review sheet
6. Computer Science 1033
7.

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Before we begin, let’s see how a
monitor displays things visually!
 A monitor is just a rectangular area (the
screen) broken down into very small
pieces or dots where each piece/dot can
take on a particular colour.
 Very similar to graph paper or cross-
stitching, Obama and Owl are cross-
stitched.

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More on monitors
 Question: What are the dots/pieces on
a monitor/screen called?
 We can use pixels (dots, thread) to
represent ANYTHING (images, text,
drawing) that we want to display visually
on the screen (paper, fabric).
This “E”
has a size
of 9 (9
pixels)

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More on monitors
 QUESTION: On a 17 inch monitor, we
could have 800 pixels (width) by 600
pixels (height) OR 1024 pixels by 768
pixels. Think about the size of the
dots/pixels for a minute in BOTH
cases.
◦ What is the terminology for the number of
pixels across by the number of pixels down?
◦ Which resolution will have the bigger pixels?
◦ If we displayed this “E”, on which screen
would it look bigger: the 800by600
resolution or the 1024by768 resolution?
17 inches
800 pixels
600 pixels
1024 pixels
768 pixels

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More on monitors (and printers)
 A pixel is displayed using light on a
monitor to create images or text.
 When printing text or images, we use ink
to create the pixel but in printing, the
pixels are called dots.
 Dots (in printing), are just like pixels in
that:
◦ They can take on different colours
◦ They can be big, creating big images, or
small, creating smaller images.

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More on monitors and printers
 QUESTION: Which one will have
bigger dots  72dpi or 300dpi (where
dpi means dots per inch)? Think about
4 dpi vs. 16dpi.
|--- 1 inch ---| |--- 1 inch ---|

QUESTION: Can any one guess the
problem with bigger dots/pixels?
300 PPI 72PPI

LET’S SEE HOW TO
REPRESENT TEXT
Now that we have a basic understanding of
ANYTHING is drawn on a monitor or on a piece of
paper by a printer (just broken down into dots) ….

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The Use of Text on a Website
 What do you need to know? Remember:
◦ Text can be used to serve two purposes:
1. It conveys information
2. It can be used as a graphical element of the page (i.e.
it doesn’t have to be ugly or boring! )
 You may have a cool font on your machine,
but the person viewing your website might
not have that font! Here are some
“Websafe Fonts”
 QUESTION: What can you do if you
really want to use an unusual font on
your website? Choice 1 or Choice 2

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Text can set a mood
 QUESTION: What type of restaurants are
these?

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Make your style of text choices
based on:
 Your audience:
◦ QUESTION: What do you need to think
about for each of the following groups?
 Children (what age group?)
 Teens
 Young Adults
 Older People
 The type of application:
◦ Educational?
◦ Entertainment?
◦ Business?

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Text can set a mood
 You can completely change the look of
your page by varying the:
◦ Text Attributes
◦ Text Placement
Here is some text
withdifferent
attributes
Here is some text with different:
• Placement
• Layout
• Design
The End
United Nations Poster
showing the power of
text!

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Some Examples From Print

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Some Terminology
 Font Type (or Typeface or sometimes just
Font)
◦ Characters that have a common design are
grouped into families called Font Types
◦ QUESTION: Can you name two Font types?
 Arial
 Arial Black
 Chiller
 Times New Roman
 Comic Sans MS

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Some Funky Fonts
Try out these websites  http://www.flamingtext.com/Font-Baby-Kruffy
Free fonts from Google  http://www.google.com/webfonts (remind me to
show you how you can use all these cool fonts!)

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 Most typefaces or fonts are divided into
one of two categories: Serif or Sans Serif
◦ Serif: has a fine line added to finish a letter
stroke
 Always use serif fonts for large paragraphs of text.
The human eye finds them easier to read!
 Examples: Times New Roman, Courier
◦ Sans Serif: no line added
 Best for headlines and headings
 Examples: Comic, Arial
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y50D
mh3SWys
 (NOTE: the above video is just to get you
thinking about fonts! Because Arial and
Times Roman are standard on both Macs
and Windows...it is FINE to use them )

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 Style
◦ Variations in the appearance that allows the
writer to emphasis parts of the text.
◦ Some examples
 Bold Times New Roman
 Italics Times New Roman
 Underline Times New Roman
 Bold Comic
 Italics Comic
 Underline Comic

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Case
 Why does case matter?
 QUESTION: What does this say?
◦ I LOVE YOU
◦ I love you
◦ CATS AND DOGS
◦ cats and dogs

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 Case
◦ In general it is much easier to read mixed
case than all uppercase. Save uppercase for
headlines.

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 Kerning
◦ What is wrong here?
◦ Adjusting the distance between pairs of
letters
◦ In standard spacing distance between
uppercase A and W seems farther than say H
and N
 AW vs. HN
 We can use kerning to fix this
 OR to fix situations like I just showed 
 QUESTION: Are you good at kerning? Take the
test!
 Tracking

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 Leading (pronounced Ledding)
◦ Amount of vertical space between lines of text
◦ As the length of a line increases, it is harder
for the reader to jump to the next line, thus
wide columns require greater leading.
◦ Tracking and leading are also related, see the
next example:

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Leading Examples
Okay, that might be a bit subjective
but lots of Western students,
including computer science
students say that one of the factors
that made them decide to come to
Western to study was seeing the
campus.
O k a y , t h a t m i g h t b e a b i t
s u b j e c t i v e b u t l o t s o f
W e s t e r n s t u d e n t s , i n c l u d i n g
c o m p u t e r s c i e n c e s t u d e n t s
s a y t h a t o n e o f t h e f a c t o r s
t h a t m a d e t h e m d e c i d e t o
c o m e t o W e s t e r n t o s t u d y w a s
s e e i n g t h e c a m p u s .
Loose Track More Leading

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Leading Examples
campus.
O k a y , t h a t m i g h t b e a b i t
s u b j e c t i v e b u t l o t s o f
W e s t e r n s t u d e n t s ,
i n c l u d i n g c o m p u t e r
s c i e n c e s t u d e n t s s a y t h a t
o n e o f t h e f a c t o r s t h a t
m a d e t h e m d e c i d e t o
c o m e t o W e s t e r n t o s t u d y
w a s s e e i n g t h e c a m p u s .
Loose Track Less Leading

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Leading Examples
campus.
Tight Track More Leading
Okay,thatmightbeabitsubjectivebutlotsof
Westernstudents,includingcomputerscience
studentssaythatoneofthefactorsthatmadethem
decidetocometoWesterntostudywasseeingthe
campus.

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Leading Examples
campus.
Tight Track Less Leading
Okay,thatmightbeabitsubjectivebutlots
ofWesternstudents,includingcomputer
sciencestudentssaythatoneofthefactors
thatmadethemdecidetocometoWestern
tostudywasseeingthecampus.

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 Monospaced Fonts vs. Proportional
Fonts
◦ QUESTION: Courier is Monospaced and
Times New Roman is Proportional, can you
see the difference?
 Courier
 Times New Roman
WWWMMM
IIIIII
WWWMMM
IIIIII

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Review
 Typography

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Font Size
 Font size can be measured in several
different units:
◦ points, picas (as in MS Word, absolute length)
◦ pixels (relative to the screens resolution)
◦ percentage, ems (relative to the default
browser font)
◦ inches, centimetres (absolute length)

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Points (Absolute length)
 Points are a print unit
 Text that is 72 points is 1 inch tall
 QUESTION: then why is the word now
in this image not 1 inch???

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Points (Absolute length)
 Commonly text is 12 points, this is 1/6 of
an inch.
NOTE: A point size of 72, will
always give you a font that is one
inch high when printed.
If you sent this MS Word Document
to a printer and measured between
the lines, it would be one inch. For
print it doesn’t matter if you print
from a Windows machine or a Mac,
a 72 point font size on paper is
always one inch high.

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Pixels, ems, % (Relative length)
 When text is displayed in pixels, ems, %,
it is relative to the default font size for
the browser and to the screen resolution.
 1 em is equal to the width
of an M in the default font
type and size of the browser
◦ E.g. Firefox  Times New
Roman, Fontsize 16 pixels

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Experiment with Font Size
 If you are on your laptop go to:
http://www.csd.uwo.ca/~lreid/cs033/FontTest1.ht
ml
 Then try the following:
◦ Set the resolution to be the lowest: 800 pixels by 600
pixels
◦ Set the resolution to be the highest.
◦ View the page in IE and then pick View>Text Size and
pick some of the different sizes. Notice the absolute
fonts don’t change, the relative ones do.
◦ View the page in Mozilla Firefox, then pick
Tools>Options then the Content Tab and change the
Font Size.

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Which Unit of Measurement to Use
 In general, don’t use points, it is for
printing.
 If you are worried about:
◦ Accessibility  use ems or % since they are
relative to the browsers default font and the
user can make the text more readable
◦ Control  if you want the layout to be
precise, use pixels.

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Font Colour
 Colour
◦ If you look at the underlying html on a
webpage you will see the colour for text is
encoded in a strange way:
 http://www.csd.uwo.ca/~lreid/cs1033/fontcolours.ht
ml
◦ Hexadecimal representation
 Hex Digits are: 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,A,B,C,D,E,F
 With TWO space holders 99 in decimal is big, 19 is small
 With TWO space holders FF in hex is big, 1F is small
 Colours must start with #
 Then you need 2 hex digits for Red, 2 hex digits for
Green and 2 hex digits for Blue 
#
F F 0 0 0 0

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 QUESTION
◦ How would you represent yellow?
◦ What colour do you think this is #222222?
◦ What colour do you think this is #CCCCCC?
 Answers:
◦ Yellow  #FFFF00
◦ Dark Gray  #222222
◦ Light Gray  #CCCCCC
 Fun Game: http://yizzle.com/whatthehex/

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Things to remember when using
text:
 Is text the best choice?
◦ Use text when it is the best way to convey
information
 Make sure it is readable
◦ Use a dark background with light text or a light
background with dark text
◦ Don’t make the font too small
◦ Make sure the font is readable (be careful with weird
fonts)
◦ Don’t use too many fonts (2 or 3 different styles is
enough)
◦ Don’t crowd your text, have some white space
◦ Paragraphs are easier to read in serif, san serif for
headings

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More tips…
 Use text sparingly
◦ Remember it is sometimes hard to read on a
computer screen
◦ Use bullets
◦ Break text up into sections
◦ Don’t be too wordy
 Be consistent
◦ Pick a colour, size, and style of font you like
and stick with it on all the pages
 Spell check  there is NO excuse for
spelling mistakes!

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More tips…
 Avoid offending
◦ Don’t use swear words or disrespectful language
 Set a mood
◦ Try to pick a font that goes with the tone of your
site (for example comic font is great for kids)
◦ Make sure it coordinates/complements your
images/graphics
 NEVER EVER EVER use underlining on a
webpage  WHY?

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A Great Design Review in 50
Seconds!
 http://mattgreenwood.tv/ELEMENTS-OF-
DESIGN

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