Much has been written and presented about the opportunities and challenges in bringing fine typography to the web. Still, much of the focus has been on the possibilities in very specific designs and recreations. Jason Pamental’s talk will center around a project that brought truly responsive typography to life on a government platform that works for every agency and puts unprecedented control in the hands of readers to tailor the reading experience to their needs. Pamental will look at the unifying typographic system: how it works across disparate sites to build trust in government, how it leverages variable fonts to adapt to different conditions and user needs, and how it has been implemented to improve performance and user experience. Nearly thirty sites have been launched in the past year, with dozens more coming in 2022—bringing an extraordinary level of design and functionality to the citizens of Rhode Island in the United States.
Responsive Type and Typography at Scale: Designing a Government Web Platform for All
Jason Pamental
Jason Pamental is a Principal Designer at Chewy.com, helping lead their design system efforts across ecommerce, enterprise, and native mobile app experiences. Previously, he spent much of his time working with clients to establish their typographic systems and digital strategy, helping design and development teams work smarter and faster, and running workshops about all of the above. Pamental is a seasoned design and user experience strategy leader with over twenty years of experience on the web in both creative and technical roles. Past clients range from state governments, type industry giants, Ivy League, and high tech to the NFL and America’s Cup.
Pamental researches and writes on typography for the web: he’s the author of “Responsive Typography” from O’Reilly, as well as articles for “.Net” magazine, “PRINT” magazine, “HOW,” and Monotype.com. He’s also a frequent guest on podcasts and an author of online courses for Aquent’s Gymnasium platform and Front-end Masters. He’s an experienced speaker and workshop leader, having presented at over fifty national and international conferences.
The real story: mainly he just follows Tillie around Turner Reservoir, posting photos on Instagram.