The Role of Typography in Website Designing

For someone in the communication business, it would seem pretty obvious that typography does play a role across all media. So, what’s the big fuss about its role in website designing?

Well, the web as a medium of communication, poses its own challenges when it comes to the use of typography. So whether we’re talking of a website for an online store or a company brand website or just another social networking site, typography can make a huge difference to the overall aesthetics and design and therefore the response, interaction and the amount of time spent by the viewer on a specific page.

Typography is more than just assembling letters to form words or words to form sentences. In today’s age, technology has made it easy for us to set a sentence with a specific typeface, by merely pressing a few buttons on a keyboard. In the bargain, we tend to overlook the immense possibilities of using typography, to beautify a webpage design and engross and engage the viewer.

There is a link between typeface, type size and line length. The look of a design could vary from screen to screen but a good designer would create exciting, attention-grabbing designs that make the viewer want to absorb what is being communicated. However, it’s very easy to create a disconnect with the audience through the use of either the wrong typeface or combination of typefaces or even the size.

For example, text matter with a small font size that runs into many lines, often makes the reader want to skip the page altogether. The same is true of extremely small lines that force the reader to focus after every few words. Further, multiple typefaces used on the same web page, if not carefully chosen, could result in being an eye sore that lowers the aesthetic value and look of the design.

One needs to take cognizance of the fact that not everyone has all the fonts installed on their computers. Hence you need to ensure that the font chosen is one of the more common or popular ones that most would have. The default number of fonts supported across operating systems is miniscule. There is what is commonly referred to as a ‘safe’ list of fonts that one could use, but the issue here is that there isn’t too much variety to play around with.

If one decides to go for sans-serif font, you have a choice betwee
Verdana, Arial and Trebuchet MS. However, there are other options with offer a higher order of variety in the san-serif family that could lend a better design feel and look – namely Univers or Futura.

The Clever Use of Text

Moving on,there is a clever option of displaying the font you want, even if the viewer does not have the font installed. All you need to do is play the font as part of an image and voila you have an arresting visual with your favourite font displayed on it.

Scalable Inman Flash Replacement (sIFR)

Currently, the most popular option for text replacement is sIFR(pronounced “siffer”), an acronym for Scalable Inman Flash Replacement. This is a technology that permits designers and art people to utilize Flash and JavaScript to incorporate the fonts they want in headlines. The good thing about this technology is that it is available as Open Source for anyone who wants to use it.

Trends in Typography

Here are a few trends to pay heed to, when it comes to using typography in designing websites:

The Slab-serifs Typeface

Slab-serif typefaces are back in vogue, simply because they display well on screen and have a nice look and feel. However their use should be judiciously done. They are apt for Headlines or Headers but not really suitable for body text that is heavy on content.

The Serif headlines, Sans body Typeface

Contrary to popular belief, it pays to explore a combination of typefaces that work well together. Using a serif and sans-serif combo, augments the aesthetics of the web design page, provided their sizing is correctly played around with.

The Hand-lettering Typeface

Hand-lettering or script typefaces were predominantly used in the print media. However, their use in web design is on the upswing. They tend to lend a unique look to the design. Care must however be taken to use hand-made fonts mainly for headlines or headers and not for body text.

The Use of Multi Typefaces

It’s not uncommon nowadays to witness the use of multi typefaces on a single web page design. It’s not an easy task to use multiple typefaces because first and foremost one needs to decipher the choice of typefaces to use but more importantly the way they are used. Experience and skill play a vital role here and not everyone is capable to pulling it off.

The Big body Typeface

They say that all good things come in small packages but when it comes to the web, caution should be exercised when using fonts in small sizes. Research has shown that audiences shy away from reading body text in font sizes that are too small, especially if the content is heavy or technical in nature.

A thumb rule to follow when it comes to body text: go with a font size of 16 pix or more and you will have an audience lapping up every word you put down.

The Rugged Typeface

This is a specialized typeface used for specific looks that are desired. Depending on the product or service for which a web page is being designed, one decides whether or not to go with a rugged typeface to further lift what is being communicated or to complement the overall design being done. The rugged typeface however works best just for headlines or headers and not for body text.

Conclusion

While it is good to keep tab on what is currently trending in terms of the use of typefaces, one ultimately has to go with the individual sense of design and the objectives set down. Typography for the web is in abundance today and how best to maximize and get the best out of it, is something of an art, perfected with skill and experience.

So the next time you have an assignment to design a website, pay special attention to the typefaces you use. It could make a huge difference to the overall design and aesthetics.