I hesitate to even bring up the topic of typography. The conversation can grow arcane very quickly. You bandy about words such as stroke, stem, swash, ascender, descender, apex/vertex, and gadzook. So, let’s simplify.

Different Decorative Strokes for Different Folks

For the non-typographer—which is, really, most folks—the primary distinction you want to be aware of is serif vs. sans serif. Serifs are the little decorative strokes at the end of letters. For, for example, here’s the word “typography” in serif and sans serif:

In general, use serif font if you’re trying to say “traditional.” Serif fonts exude elegance and confidence. That’s why they’re the typical choice for businesses such as law offices and insurance adjusters.  Meanwhile, sans serif fonts say modern or approachable. Small businesses who want to come across more youthful and relatable tend to use sans serif fonts.

White space starts at the content level

Once you choose serif or sans serif, you have some other decisions to make. The first relates to a term I introduced earlier: white space. The terms are leading and kerning. Leading is the space between lines of text in a paragraph (the name comes from the strips of lead that typographers added between the lines of text when they hand-set type into the printing press). Kerning refers to the spacing between letters.

The point? Your copy needs white space—room to breath. Between each line in a paragraph and between each word in a sentence.

Another choice you have to make that impacts white space—and, therefore, readability—is justified vs. ragged right. Justified type refers to type in which the width of each line completely fills the column. This creates vertical margins on both left and right—a very clean look.

In ragged-right text, lines end in varying widths—producing a “ragged” right edge of the column.

Justified text:

Left-aligned (ragged-right) text:

Also, in the process of justification, unusual spacing can occur between words. Occasionally, a gap created by wider spacing in one justified row will line up with a gap in the next row, and the next, and the next… and you end up with a canyon or river in your type. This gets in the reader’s way.

There you have it. Grids, white space, color palette, imagery, typography—all chosen with your target audience in mind.

Congratulations! You now know enough about web design to be dangerous.

Other articles in this series:

Part 2.1

Objective Reasons One Website Design “Works” When Another Doesn’t

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Part 2.2

Website Design Starts With Your Customers In Mind

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Part 2.3

The Right Image Can WOW Your Website Visitors

Read More