Typography on the Web

Typography on the web has evolved from years back. When thinking about reasons why most people have websites, maybe it is because they have a product to sell or a service to promote. Perhaps they want to provide information about their organization or to blog about their opinions of the sad state of the nation. Maybe it is a social network for long lost co-eds to reunite or play games until the wee hours of the night! Regardless the reason for having the website, it is out there and we want our websites to be noticed, read, reviewed, and saved as a favorite! Reasons for searching for certain information out on the web will vary and really do not matter, but reasons for picking your website over other websites within the same category or field does matter!

So let’s take a look at why someone would want to save your website over another’s; is it because they know you? Is it because you are the only one out there in your field? Probably not. One of the biggest reasons why someone would take the time to save your website over another’s is because the design of the website! Visually appealing and user-friendly web design is the magical equation for GREAT website. Take a look at your home page, ask some friends about how they would describe it. The goal is to have your friends say that it is clean, concise, and inviting. Can they easily navigate to other pages by clearly marked sub-tabs? Are the colors and graphics easy on the eyes or do you catch yourself straining? Lastly, high-quality content is a must, and it is imperative that the typography is chosen well so that it allows you to convey what you want to say effectively!

Let’s take a look at typography on the web for a little bit. Not always the first thing you think about when envisioning your design, but it surely is an important piece to getting your audience to save your website under there favorites section. Fonts are divided into two categories: Serifs (like Times New Roman) or Sans Serif (Verdana). Unlike print, font style renders differently on the computer screen. A print ad will have 2400dpi (dots per inch) while a computer screen is limited to 96dpi. Print will tend to choose serifs as they lend the users eye across the page while on a computer screen some serifs may appear more pixilated. Here are some commonly used typography on the web: Arial, Arial Black, Comic Sans, Courier New, Georgia, Impact, Lucida Console, Times New Roman, and Verdana. These fonts have been relatively risk-free to use for web designers ensuring scalability and good legibility regardless of screen size.

Coming from a more creative standpoint, fonts and their application can create a mood! They can emphasize a certain idea or theme in the text that may be overlooked without good use of font. This can add pizazz to the website and increase the effectiveness of what the content is conveying to the audience. When you read text that is underlined, bold, in CAPITAL letters, or italics, doesn’t that make you think differently about what you are reading? FOR INSTANCE, capital letters would be appropriate for an angry blogger and bold text will remind you that what you are reading is important!

Now let’s take it a step further to using specific fonts and how they can create an impact on the audience. If your website is selling children’s books a whimsical Cosmic Sans MS would be nice while a blog about sunsets on the beach may be well suited to use Segoe Script. Up until recently web design has used a standard set of fonts on the web, but with the announcement of the @open-face command for CSS3, designers are able to incorporate licensed fonts from typographers and type foundries like Typekit! This means designers no longer have to resort to other methods of using unique fonts. No more relying on Flash as an alternative or the client to provide the obscure font that the designer would like to use. In addition now companies that have prided themselves on their brand no longer have to see it represented in a Verdana or Times New Roman font within the text of the website!

A couple other things to consider with typography on the web include being conscious of the contrast of the text and the background. The closer the values are between the text and the background the harder it is to read. White background with black font allows for the most visibility. Consider alignment to the left as readers are more likely to get lost with center or right alignment. Lastly ensure that line length is not too long! Excessive line length can make it difficult to read from the end of one line to the beginning of the next. This can be controlled by using BlockQuotes, laying out your page with narrow columns or using < BR> (break) characters where you want to force a carriage return.

Next time you decide to just drop in the content for the website, consider how it could be taken up a notch with creative solutions for how the text appears! A Visual Identity would like to challenge you to dive into your imagination and get creative with your text! Let us know what cool fonts you have used and how it has changed your designs!

Digital Pound is a Leading Website Design and Internet Marketing Companyis providing every type of  e Business solutions. E-Commerce and online Shopping website services.


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