Beautiful Typography In Web Design

First impressions are lasting impressions for website design. Whether you realize that or not, typography goes a long way in creating an experience for the user even before they have read a word or clicked a button. Typography creates an atmosphere and elicits a response the same way voice does.

You need to ask yourself, what do you want to say and how do you want to say it? Consider the user: What do you want them to feel and experience when the page loads? Typography establishes a mode of communication and, in turn, the personality of the website. The choice of typeface will determine how people respond to your website.

Most online fonts nowadays are sans serif, which are considered to be the new fonts as compared to serif fonts. Sans serif fonts are fonts with a “clean-cut” from the end of the alphabets, while serif fonts have an ending “tail”, such as Garamond this is because in the old days, fonts are hand written, hence it is natural and artistic to have an ending “tail”. However, it is easier to look at sans serif fonts on a computer screen nowadays, hence sans serif fonts appear more often on websites.

The most common types of fonts to use, when you have no idea what to use, is typically Helvatica or Arial. Critics have said that they are “boring”, however, definitely the safest choice to make.

Now consider an e-commerce website, because money is to be transacted in a virtual environment, where no physical interaction takes place, the choice of typography has to give a sense of security, hence usually the choice of font has to be slightly thicker and non-italic.

If the website is to give off a sense of naughtiness and fun vibe, consider fonts that are curvy and fun, such as the all-time favorite, comic sans, if the website is to give off a vintage feel, consider old serif fonts like Garamond, but always remember to take into account of the readability of the fonts on a computer screen and the overall aesthetics of the website due to the typography.

Some websites have multiple typefaces, this is generally not recommended as the look and feel of the website has to be standardized to portray a unique identity of the website and also not to confuse the audience. However some websites succeed at using multiple typefaces to give a different vibrant feel.

In conclusion, understand who the website is intended for and what kind of image do you want the website to portray. Only after that, then decide on the typeface you want to use.