A Page is the area that occupies the entire viewport of the mobile screen during its current state. Based on cultural norms of reading conventions and how people process information, we must design and layout page information accordingly. We also want to create information that is easily accessed, and easy to locate. Our users are not stationary, or focused entirely on the screen. They’re everywhere and they want information quickly and easy to manipulate.

The Page that will be discussed here is subdivided into the following chapter:

Wrapper

A wrapper is a template that is used to organize page information consistently across the OS. Using a wrapper allows information to be organized hierarchically on a page. This organization will relate to the user’s mental model of page structure to quickly increase learnability and satisfaction while decreasing performance errors.

This chapter will discuss the following topics:

Digital Display Page Layout Principles

Using page layouts can provide a consistent user and brand experience that support content organization and layout, advertising requirements, navigation, and message display characteristics such as legibility and readability.

Mobile users have specific tasks and goals. They require the information to be quickly located and effectively organized. Therefore, the page layouts need to reflect the mental models and schemas understood by the users. If these are ignored, users will become frustrated, unsatisfied with their experience, create miscues and errors, and might even give up!

Furthermore, using page layouts wisely, allows you to organize and place content effectively on valuable screen real estate where every pixel is important.

Page Layout Guidelines for Mobile Users

Message Display Characteristics

Mobiles are used differently from desktops, and even most print use of type. They are closest, perhaps, to signage in that they must be comprehended by all user populations, under the broadest possible range of environmental conditions (e.g. poor lighting) and at a glance. The typical mobile user is working with the device in a highly interruptible manner, glancing at the screen for much of their interaction.

The message display elements must be immediately detected, discriminated, identified, readable and comprehendible. In essence, they must be legible. In order to create effective message displays that are legible for mobile displays, understanding the basic elements of type is important. This information will assist you when choosing the appropriate typeface for your design.

Typographical Features, Baselines, and Measurements

Letterforms and Their Parts

Letter Height

During the letterpressing era of movable type, letters were created from cast sorts. These sorts were arranged together to form words and sentences. Each metal sort was designed to have a specific measurement. The letter’s height was measured from the top to the bottom of the sort, not the actual letter. This standard measurement became known as the type’s point size. On the sort, letter heights varied across typefaces, even though they may have shared the same sort height. Therefore, different typefaces may have the same point size, but the actual letter height may differ.

Today, we commonly use the point size system. We have also standardized type using picas, and ems.

Letter Width

Letter Width is known as set width. Set width measures the width of the letter and a small cushion.

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Letter Spacing

Alignment

Alignment of type is used as a design tool, and to make the text fit appropriately. And "alignment" is the right word. We use left-align, right-align, and center.

Justified

Justification is a single entity with type adjusted to be straight on both the left and right sides. This is more readable on small columns, but less readable on longer columns, where "ragged right" or left-aligned type is better. When you justify type there will be changes to the kerning, between words and between letters, and if this is poorly done then the type becomes difficult to read. Fix this with wider columns, or tweaking the hyphenation rules.

Typefaces for Screen Display

Back in 1975, AT&T wanted a new typeface to commemorate the company’s 100th anniversary. AT&T indicated that the requirements for the new typeface must fit more characters per line without reducing legibility to reduce paper consumption, reduce the need for abbreviations and two-line entries, increase legibility at the smaller point sizes, and be used for the phonebook directory. Matthew Carter, a type designer, got the job and created the new typeface Bell Centennial.

Carter’s new sans-serif typeface was more condensed, increased the x-height, and used more space in the open counters and bowls. Aware of the printing limitations, he used letters with deep ink traps, which allowed for the counterforms to be open making them more legible at smaller point sizes. His typeface was not effective at larger point sizes or on stock paper because the ink traps never filled completely. However, for its intended purpose, it was very effective in the phonebook directory.

This example explains that a particular typeface can be context specific. In 1975, available technology, the medium, and users were considered. As designers and developers today, these considerations remain throughout the design process. You need to understand that when choosing a typeface, context of use is key.

Challenges of Mobile Typography Today

Computer-based type, especially for internet display, has always been a challenge due to display technologies (resolution), availability of type, color and contrast reproduction variations and size variations. Mobile devices take these issues, magnify them, and add on a spate of unique environmental and use-pattern issues. The primary barrier is of technology, and the primary concern is of readability within the user's context.

While this challenge will slowly dissolve, it will always be present to some degree. Inexpensive devices, specialist devices (youth, elderly and ruggedized) and emerging markets needs, seem to indicate these issues will persist for another decade at least.

Technology Concerns

While some devices are beginning to allow effectively unlimited type selection, support vector glyphs, and have large amount of storage and running memory, most mobile devices are still resource and technology constrained. General issues of storage on the device, running memory, download times and cost of network access, limit availability of type for mobile application design. As almost all devices require raster (bitmap) faces, each size is loaded as a complete, different typeface. Most products end up with the device's default type, or with a very limited set of choices for their application.

Digital Fonts Today

Most current phones use anti-aliased fonts and many of these are available in TrueType versions that you can use on your PC. Anti-aliasing renders some of pixels shades of gray along the edges of the letter. This helps users to perceive the letter as being smooth. Anti-aliased text is more legible when using larger font sizes for titles and headings; however, using anti-aliasing text in small font sizes tends to create a blurry image. Consider the mobile display’s capabilities when choosing the font size and font family because they might not be available for that mobile device.

Bitmap Fonts

Bitmap fonts consist of a series of dots or pixels representing the image of each glyph in each typeface and size. Each font is a “picture” of a typeface at a specific size. Early computers with limited memory and processing speed used bitmap fonts exclusively.

Today, bitmap fonts are used primarily in the Linux console, and embedded devices. BUT, MANY MOBILE DEVICES TAKE VECTOR FONTS AND RASTORIZE THEM?

Advantages

Disadvantages

Examples of screen fonts

Vector Fonts