On Mar 11, 2009, at 10:27 AM, Marty DeAngelo wrote:
Thanks for the input. So far, between this forum, our own internal
testing and what I've found on the web, the breakdown seems to be
(as unscientific as it is):
1.0em/100%/16px :: 5
0.9em (~14px)/14px :: 4
0.8em (~13px)/13px :: 10
0.75em/75%/12px :: 11
10-12px :: 3
<10px :: 1
Obviously, so far 12-13px seems to be the standard. Of course, there
is a lot of discussion about much of it depending on WHICH font you
use, too. We're restricted to just the two, so I have to focus on
those.
In all of this discussion the key components that actually matter have
been neglected:
What size physical display do most of your users have? And at what
pixel dimensions do they have it set to? And what font are you using?
The answer to those questions give you your default size.
Now, outside of knowing the answers, or having answers that are too
generalized, your best bet as of today in 2009 is to set base fonts to
13px. This will change in the future as displays get denser and
bigger, but as of right now, this is the best middle ground for
everything outside of Times, which can generally go to 14px to get the
same feel. 13px is a size that works for people using laptops to
people using bigger monitors while still giving you the designer
enough room to actually work and lay out content effectively. I have a
30" Cinema display on my desk, and 13px feels a bit small, but when
I'm in laptop mode, it feels about right, even on the big side.
Beyond that, people can use the zoom functions that most browser have
finally implemented to make their own adjustments. It's best to start
training people that these zoom features exist rather than trying to
constantly jump through hoops to create layouts the are optimized for
everyone but work for no one, realistically speaking.
--
Andrei Herasimchuk
Chief Design Officer, Involution Studios
innovating the digital world
e. [email protected]
c. +1 408 306 6422
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