Fonts are the key
Fonts are the most critical aspect of web design. More is not always better and less is not always more. For some reason this is the most over developed and overtly misused (and I, too, have been or am guilty of this) design aspect of websites. Too many different fonts on a webpage are a complete turn off—I have no empirical evidence here, but from personal browsing experience, too many different fonts and I'm clicking elsewhere.Fonts are family
There is a reason why fonts are arranged in a family and it isn't because the font developer was trying to be cute. Fonts are arranged in a way that your eyes and your attention is are best suited. Of course there are exceptions to this rule, but the exceptions only prove the rule. When a font is decorated or hard to discern, you're brain is telling you you're better off with an easier to read font. Thus, just like your 'family,' the idea of a font family is just as important if you are laying out a page or creating a form or designing site or a real estate brochure.
Fonts are your handwriting
Unfortunately, the days of handwritten letters are behind us. Incidentally, it is precisely this that makes the gift of letter writing a skilled and valuable craft in the information age. Even more of a craft is the art of a well crafted email, blog, or website—mainly because that is how most people communicate. This is something that has been somewhat bastardized, mainly because 'non-designers,' like myself, are able to publish them. But, after much experimentation and many articles and books later, I have developed some semblance of an online handwriting (which is not as easy as picking your favorite font, btw, because browsers and operating systems render them differently—see links below about this topic).
Your mother should and does know about fonts
Chances are, if you're my age, your mother grew up reading books and newspapers. That's how she got information, news, etc. So if your mother tells you that it's hard to read, then it is.
For example: Once I had an ad designes for a client on a black background, and my mother told me it was nice, but difficult to read. Obviously, since she is my mother, she was being honest. Just like The Beatles song, Your Mother Should Know... but turns out she's correct. Whether on a computer screen or on a printed page, black backgrounds are difficult to read and hard to focus on.
Use your creativity for the layout
Styling a font in a creative way is ok sometimes, but for the most part, save this for your logo. As in something that is easily identifiable with what you are or will associate with you or with your brand. Other than that, it's not necessary to get creative with fonts—If you read at all about how fonts are designed, you'll understand that they weren't just thrown together because someone at a Grateful Dead concert got artsy-fartsy while selling grilled cheeses in the parking lot—though I wouldn't be surprised if these folks were the ones who DID design them.
Great Font resources
- Typeface - Wikipedia article - a good history and summary of the font
- Seth's Blog: I love typefaces
- Seth's Blog: Fonts and your face
- Seth's 7 Font tips - pdf
- A List Apart: Text-Resize
- Smashing Magazine: 30 Brilliant Typefaces for Corporate Design
- dafont.com
A well composed document, website or blog utilizes a creative layout and creative and logical CSS and scripting to bring readers below the fold. No need to reinvent the font.
