Often in media it is said that how your write is just as important as what your write. This very sentence emphasizes the importance and role of typography in creative design and media. Further, since graphic designs are meant to showcase your brand in a way that visually engages the viewer, typography is indispensable for a design.
In fact typography being a driving force in all forms of communication art makes for over 50% of the design. It makes the letters come to life in a design and is also responsible for solidifying your brand image.
Considerations For Typography in Web Design
What most people don’t understand about typography is the psychological effect it has in relation to conveying a message. Not only does well crafted typography has the power to capture attention, it also generates emotion in people and thereby reinforces the brand message. These multitudes of reasons make it evident that font selection for any creative design should never be left to chance. In fact ensuring some strategic considerations while selecting fonts for creative works help them go the extra mile! Some of these strategic considerations include:
Typeface
Typeface refers to the group or family of fonts used in a particular article or webpage that have common design features. With endless options to choose from, it should be noted that the typeface should be clear, impactful, and should give off the correct impression.
Legibility
Legibility refers to the ease with which the characters in a text can be recognizable. The most important point to keep in mind while selecting the perfect typeface is that it should be easily legible. A beautiful and eye catching font is of no use if it is not legible and therefore, each character should be easily distinguishable and clear for the user to get the message.
Readability
Readability, while similar to legibility, is more concerned with the way in which the content is a displayed on a page. Be it the presentation and spacing of text, the size of the font or the blocks in which the text is arranged on a page, a well-organized and clearly readable text is a lot more appealing.
Visual Hierarchy
In most designing pages, there is a need for more than one font. It is suggested that the headline and the main text should have different fonts. In these cases, the fonts chosen for the headline, sub-headlines and other text should be similar or should have common design features. There should also be a consistency in the text overall, for example, one must not use different fonts for different sub-headings.
Font Type
While there are several classifications of fonts, choosing a Serif or Sans-Serif font is the most debated one. Fonts with a small line attached at the end of a stroke in letters or symbols of, usually, old fonts are called Serif fonts and are easier to read and give a more classic look to the text. Sans-Serif fonts refer to fonts having no Serif or small lines at the end of their letters. They are considered sleeker and more modern therefore the choice of font should be done accordingly.
Font Size and Spacing
For a text to be readable, the font size and spacing should be given much importance. A user might find the topic interesting but if the font size is too small or with little spacing between the lines, they might leave the page without bothering to read it. The font size should be consistent with the type of text. For example, for headlines one must use a larger font size and for the rest of the text a smaller text size is preferable. The spacing between lines and paragraphs is also essential as it plays an important part in making it easily readable.
Color and Contrast
The color combination used in the webpage also determines the number of views of the page. While bright colors may be more eye-catching, soothing colors help ease up the reading experience. Brown colored text set in cream or off-white background is a great combination for blogs or online books. The color of the headline and the color of the main text should complement each other and the webpage design for a more attractive page.
Platform Independence
For a webpage to be complete and loophole-free, one must make sure that the fonts used are independent of the platform on which the webpage is used to running. The fonts and typeface should work just fine on any platform, gadget, and operating system without any change in its look and feel.
Good typography has been known to accentuate graphic designs. Not only do typographical choices have a great influence on the audience, it also gives the designs the ability to evoke emotions. Bad typography in contrast can ruin an otherwise good design and even fail to convey the message. Keeping these advantages and limitations in mind, it can be rightly said that typography is one design element that can never be left to chance!
