At this point in time, typography and the Internet are not completely in jive yet! There are still some kinks and restrictions in designing with decorative fonts for web pages. It may not seem like there is a problem on the surface, because much of the problems are masked. How so?

If a web designer wants to use decorative fonts other than the standard fonts used for text such as Verdana, Times, Arial, and other ordinary fonts like this, extra measures need to take place. When decorative fonts are used for the Internet, they need to be turned into artwork first. The software, Illustrator CS and Flash MX 2004 "outline" or "break apart" type in such a way that search engines read them as artwork and not as text. This is a great work-around for the time being. But, it doesn't end there.

The other issue involved with fonts has to do with ownership and licenses. Not all fonts are free. To find out more about the cost of fonts, type *fonts* into a search engine, and notice how some fonts are free and some have a price tag attached to them.

As you can see, there are many issues involved with online typography and the use of fonts. It will be interesting to see how this situation unfolds in time.

Today's graphic designers need to know about the mediums they work with. In this case, not only should they know all about their offline tools of the trade, but with the growing popularity of the Internet, the knowledge of technology and software is required too.