Imagine flipping your tablet or phone between portrait and landscape and having to adjust to a new font-size with each turn.īetter would be to adjust line-height with the change in line-length, except line-height is relative to font-size, while line-length here is relative to the widths of our layout. In some cases this is what we want, but in others it’s not a pleasant experience. If we increase the font-size of our type, the line-height will scale with it, as the latter is set relative to the former. Our layouts force a change in line-length and we need to make further adjustments to maintain proportions. As Tim points out in the post there’s a fundamental triadic relationship in setting type.Īdjusting one of the above requires adjusting the others to maintain comfortable reading. That directly affects the measure of our text.Ī few months ago Tim Brown raised the idea of molten leading (or fluid line-height). The most obvious change that comes with responsive design is how layouts change over different widths. Throw in the different device resolutions that have come to market and we’re looking at another set of issues. Unfortunately the best solution to maintain proportions is not always clear. To maintain the same proportional relationships other aspects of the type need to adjust. As responsive layouts adapt to varying screen widths, one of these choices (line-length) changes. Done well and your text will be both easy and desirable to read. Setting type involves choices that create proportional relationships in your text.

Responsive site designer text wrap