This is Issue 2 of AppleBites, Applegreen's quarterly newsletter.
          You are receiving this because you have either worked with Applegreen Websites of expressed an interest in doing so.
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Stephanie Boucher

Websites that resize themselves

There are so many devices on which to access the internet nowadays -  not just desktops and laptops but tablets of different sizes, smartphones and even wrist-watches.  As more of us use the internet on the move, industry insider Craig Butler predicteds that 2014 will be “the year of the smartphone”.  Craig writes regularly for the online magazine SitePoint and has a creditable record in predicting internet trends!


For us designers, this particular trend has meant embracing “responsive” technology, which enables websites to work well and look good on all platforms. The idea is that the elements of a website automatically rearrange and resize themselves to suit the width of the device.  Applegreen has not shied away from learning these new skills and is now designing responsive websites as standard.  Here is one, Brightside B&B, and there are more in the pipeline.  Further information on responsive websites can be found here.
 

Use (almost) any typeface

The choice of typefaces available to websites used to be very limited.  Only a dozen widely available fonts were considered “web-safe”, that is, likely to display correctly on every monitor. 

 
But this is changing, and with advances in technology, a world of varied typography is opening up to us. This does not mean you should go mad and use everything at once.  The principles of good design still apply: use no more than two typefaces on a website and, as James George reminds us here, make sure these are properly suited to your purpose. You may even find that your favourite fancy font needs to be bought with a licence for use on the web.

Fonts do need to be legible in small sizes so save those curly ones for headlines.  Sadly, the pixel-based nature of computer displays makes some typefaces, such as the classic Garamond, entirely unsuitable for the web.  But that still leaves plenty of choice: see the art-deco-inspired Bellerose applied in this Applegreen website.

 

Help is at hand

Tired of blogging?  Running out of steam? Let Applegreen take the strain.  We can turn your ideas into smooth prose that will keep your blog on the road.