Sessions at SXSW Interactive 2011 about Typography

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Sunday 13th March 2011

• Cure for the Common Font

  by Frank Chimero, Jason Santa Maria, Stephen Coles, Tiffany Wardle and Typographica.org

  Hundreds of new typefaces are released every year by hundreds of vendors. Some of these fonts are good for nuts-and-bolts text, some for showing off. Some work well on the web, while most are just awful. A select few are destined to be classics. The sheer volume and variety of options can be overwhelming. So, understandably, most designers just stick to the same old safe standbys they’ve always used — the ones that came with their computer or they learned about in school. The panelists, all typographic experts, will show how they broke free of tired text, sharing their secrets for selecting type, including best practices and personal case studies.

  LEVEL: Intermediate

  • Design
  • Typography
  • Web Typography

  At 5:00pm to 6:00pm, Sunday 13th March

  In Town Lake Ballroom, Radisson Hotel & Suites Austin-Town Lake

• Where Web Typography Goes To Next

  by Richard Rutter

  The future of web typography is as uncertain as any other aspect of the medium, but one thing is for sure: it's got momentum. At no other time has typography been taken so seriously by so many involved in the web, and that means there's an awful lot of change and innovation to keep up with if you want to stay on the cutting edge of online type.

  In as much depth as 60 minutes will allow, this presentation will cover recent proposals and additions to CSS 3, from ligatures to hyphenation, synthesis to capitalisation, and much in between. It will cover the reasoning behind the new aspects of CSS 3, and reintroduce older properties which only now are becoming implemented and useful (and thus browser support will not be ignored either).

  No session on web typography would be complete without discussion of webfonts. There is still much learn in this field, both in what CSS can provide, and the technical implementation within browsers.

  But web typography is not just about CSS, or even good type setting. The bit that touches us most closely is the medium through which most of us read: text rendering and screens, and this presentation will discuss and demonstrate the cutting edge of both.

  Web typography is a hugely exciting part of web design, and the field that is moving most quickly. This presentation will give you everything you need to know to keep right on the spur of the serif, the apex of the ascender, and the edge of the curve.

  LEVEL: Advanced

  • CSS
  • Typography
  • Web Typography

  At 5:00pm to 6:00pm, Sunday 13th March

  In Ballroom C, Austin Convention Center

Monday 14th March 2011

• Passion for Typography Meet Up

  As the SXSW Interactive Festival continues to grow, it often becomes harder to discover /network with the specific type of people you want to network with. Hence a full slate of daytime Meet Ups are scheduled for the 2011 event. These Meet Ups are definitely not a panel session -- nor do they offer any kind of formal presentation or AV setup. On the contrary, these sessions are a room where many different conversations and (and will) go on at once. This timeslot is for registrants to network with other SXSW Interactive, Gold and Platinum registrants who are interested in typography. Cash bar onsite.

  • Meetup
  • Typography

  At 11:00am to 12:00pm, Monday 14th March

  In Room 616AB, Hilton Austin Downtown