So many fonts, how do you decide? Personal choice will only get you so far – here are 6 things to know about choosing website fonts.
Font choice can make or break a website
The type of font you choose when designing a website is important, as well as the combination of different fonts. Typography is powerful and should compliment the style and purpose of your website but using too many fonts or the wrong size or weight, can send a good website design off track.
It’s not only about personal choice
In many ways, font-choice is subjective, based on personal preference, but there are technical considerations to keep in mind, particularly when it comes to fonts for websites. You want the navigation and reading experience for the user to be as impactful, barrier-free and pleasing as possible.
Things to know
Choosing fonts can be tricky, so here are some tips to guide you, based on the science, what’s recommended and best practice, when it comes to website design.
Use fonts from the same family
No one would ever recommend in web design that you use one font only. Using different fonts is the single best ways to create contrast and hierarchy in information.
You can’t go wrong if you choose two fonts from the same family. Yes - there are families of fonts!
If you choose fonts from the same family, you can be guaranteed they will match as they’re designed to work together, including all their variations.
Combine serif fonts with sans serif fonts
Firstly, to explain, if you don’t what serif and sans serif fonts are…
Serif fonts are often seen as ‘old-style’ fonts because they usually have tails at the end of each letter.
In theory, serif fonts are better for larger bodies of text as they’re supposed to be easier to read as the eye follows the tails of each letter, as it would for ‘joined-up writing’. However, not everyone subscribes to this theory, and you’ll often see sans serif fonts, with their more modern design for large bodies of text too.
Sans serif fonts are fonts without the tails to each letter, see our Arial and Roboto fonts above. In combination with serif fonts, sans serif are usually better for headlines, or for shorter paragraphs.
Be careful using script fonts in web design
Script fonts are fonts designed to look as if they are hand-written.
Script fonts are not really advised for web design but tend to be used by creative and craft businesses to convey a familiar, intimate feel in their brand.
They can be used in web design for feature titles/headings, or to add an accent here and there, if the design calls for it. But they shouldn’t be used for main paragraphs of text. Keep in mind they are quite difficult for most users to read, compared to simpler designs, and the last thing you want is an illegible font.
Use different size fonts
Size matters when it comes to using fonts in web design.
Experiment with sizes and weights, but rule of thumb is to use larger fonts and heavier weights for titles, headings and subheadings, saving the smaller sizes for main bodies of text. This helps your user to understand the hierarchy of information and that they can read on – to the smaller font – for more detailed information, if they wish.
Use no more than three or four different sizes of font.
Match the font to the mood
Think about the feeling you are aiming to convey with your brand, and the products or services you’re promoting with your website. For example, if you’re selling beauty or wellbeing services, you don’t want a mechanical, hard-edged font, like Roboto Black.
Aim to convey the appropriate mood and style for your purpose.
Try a free font combination tool
Playing with a free font combination tool will help you in the process of decision-making when it comes to font choice and what to/what not to combine. You can play around with many different combinations and get an eye for how fonts work, and don’t work, together.
We are all over everything web design at Cultrix. Can’t choose a font, design, or where to start with your web design? We’re good at helping, so get in touch.
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