I’ve heard some web and graphic designers gripe about the overuse of certain fonts; however, there may be a reason why certain fonts are seen everywhere on websites. They are fonts that are easy to read. Readability is vital to a positive visitor experience. Thus you may want to stay away from such fonts as Times New Roman, Arial/Helvetica, Impact, Papyrus, Comic Sans, Copperplate, Bank Gothic and Courier when you’re designing your logo. However, when it comes to choosing the right font for your website’s main content, these are highly readable fonts. And that’s what you want on your website!
Now that we’ve:
- expunged the notion that it’s bad to use the tried and true standbys, and
- established the importance of readability,
Let’s consider other factors, such as color and font families, that play a role in creating your branding on your website.
Recognizing Font Families
Fonts come in family groups or classifications.
- Serif fonts are recognized by the little bars at the tops and bottoms of letters. Most newspapers and older books use serif fonts.
- Sans-serif fonts omit these bars. Many websites use sans-serif fonts.
- Cursive/Script fonts have more of a handwritten feel to them.
- Decorative fonts are primarily designed for strong typographic impact. They work best when used for short headlines.
- Mono-spaced fonts use a fixed space for each letter. This means that there will be a larger space between narrow letters such as i, l, and t. They may appear in either serif or sans-serif forms.
Choosing Which Font Family to Use
Never use a mono-spaced font unless you want to leverage a retro feel for your brand. Courier New, Lucida Console and Monaco are mono-spaced fonts. These are the fonts that mimic what typewriters generated before the advent of the PC and dot-matrix printers. Even when the Selectric made swapping out different type faces possible, the fonts remained mono-spaced. It was in the nature of the type-writer.
This content is for members only.
Choosing Your Body Fonts
This content is for members only.
Choosing Your Headline Fonts
Headlines are where you can express a lot of personality. This content is for members only.Consider your values and what you want to project about them. It will help you find a font that sends the message you want to deliver. At the same time, recognize how subjective your visitor’s responses can be. Whenever possible, involve others in your decision-making process.
This content is for members only.
How Color and Font Types Work Together
Another factor you should consider is the color scheme of your website. There is some evidence that certain color combinations affect readability negatively more when they are used with the wrong font. This content is for members only.
Choosing a Web Safe Font
When I first wrote on this topic over six years ago, web safe fonts were a major concern. With the advent of Google fonts and web font licenses, it’s far easier to create a consistent visual experience for your visitors. Your creative options have exploded. This content is for members only.
Summary
Ultimately, your choice of font for your website must consider readability first. Then consider your target market., What fonts would resonate best with them. And finally, assume your website will be accessed by mobile devices as well as computers. Ensure your text creates a harmonious experience for your customers no matter how they access your website.
Beyond these considerations, parting with any control freak tendencies is essential. The best font remains to some extent in the eye of the beholder.
