This talk traces the parallel history of western and eastern typography from handwriting to the internet age, setting the context for how the web is a brand new medium for typesetting. CSS allows us to implement advanced typographic features and multi-directional layouts, that not only benefits internationalisation, but opens up a myriad of options for creative and interesting layouts in general as well. CSSconf EU will be back on May 31st 2019: https://2019.cssconf.eu/