Rules of Typography in Web Designing

A website without any text is unheard of. This is because text or copy on a website is used to communicate the values of a business to its customers. Since the copy is an important part of a website, it comes down to the typography used on a website when it comes to user experience.

Typography plays a major part in creating a better user experience. The readability and legibility of a content depend mostly on the typography used. Typography does more than just improving readability and legibility. It sets the right mood for the user and it is the voice of a design.

To ensure that your website use right typography, you must be aware of some of its basic principles.

Don’t Ignore Kerning

Kerning is something that is really important but unfortunately ignored most of the time. Some designers confuse kerning with tracking. Kerning is the space between two letters in a word, while tracking is the space between all the letters in a word. No tool will automatically adjust kerning in your design, you will have to take care of it yourself. Kerning is important because, without it, your design will be lacking seamless flow of letters.

Follow the Hierarchy

A great design has a hierarchy of its own. This is same for typography. Typography is used everywhere on a website. It is used in navigation, heading, subheading, body text, caption, links, footer, etc. Each level of the hierarchy is distinguished with a different style, weight, size, and family. This clear hierarchy in typography makes the text easy to scan and read for users.

Selecting the Right Font

Selecting the right typography is never about personal taste. It is always about what is the right fit according to the context of a website and for your users. Using calligraphy style typography on a business website is a poor choice. It will result in a high bounce rate and less business. Instead, go with some sans serif fonts, like Roboto, Open Sans or others.

Limit the Typography

Using multiple typography styles on the same website might sound like a nice idea to some designers, but in reality, it is a big mistake which often a senior designer can make. You have to be consistent with the use of typography. If you want to distinguish between two pieces of text, then experiment by using a different weight or size. If that doesn’t work, try to limit the use of typography style to 3.