Three years ago, who would have thought that typography would be a “game changer” on the Web? Today — guess what? Flash is running away. Sites are getting called out for being cluttered and busy. The idea of “lots of imagery” is going the way of the dodo. Yes, folks — words are taking their place.
For awhile, words were big because of SEO. Of course, that’s still the case — Google’s interested in your content, not your visual flair — but now words play a bigger part. Whether you realize it or not, the font (typeface, typography, whatever) you use is part of the art of your site’s design.
There have been visionaries who’ve seen the importance of good font use for awhile; but to me, the tide changed with the “Ocean’s Eleven Project” (video is embedded for your utmost convenience). If for nothing else this little video is one of several media efforts 2–3 years ago that took the quiet conversation about typography and design and made it a loud one.
Helvetica has been and will continue to be at the design forefront. It is one of the most versatile fonts available, it’s web safe, and it offers what many crave, but so few fail to get right — it’s clean.
But there are other options in the tank as well. And times they are a-changin’. For example: Bold is out; italic is in. Paragraphs are gasping for air while keyword-driven bullet points and tag lines are quickly becoming the order of the day. These are just examples of typeface trends that have developed in the last year.
And that’s the key to developing a good strategy to what fonts you use and how you use them: The trends are always changing. Even at Worthwhile right now, we’re redesigning our site and blog — and major emphasis is being given to font type and usage. Why? Because just a year ago we created this blog with the idea of being simple and straightforward. Those were our goals, and they still are. But the same typography scheme that worked a year ago doesn’t cut it today.
But we’re not here to talk about us, we want to help you. Below is a list of great pieces we’ve assembled from our designers and strategists that will help you take something as simple as words and make them a powerful force for you on the web.
Message Affects Means | David Ruse Want to learn more about how the font choice you make helps (or hinders) the overall message of your business? David’s got you covered with some simple principles that will get you moving on the right track in developing a sound strategy for how you use type on the web.
Hierarchy in Typography | David Paxton Don’t let the title fool you. David (lovingly referred to around here as SixPax) walks you through an area that so many web sites misfire on: Inconsistent hierarchy in their site’s typography. When should you bold, italicize, underline, increase size, etc.? Our very first design intern takes time to explain the good, bad, and ugly — helping you to avoid common pitfalls and create a cleaner, crisper site.
Inconspicuous Typography | Brandon Godwin Too much on the web today says, “Hey, look at me!” But the culture of people surfing the web don’t want to see you, they want to see them. Brandon does a great job laying some ground work on how to make wise choices in your font type and usage so that they convey your message subtly, rather than beating your site’s visitors over the head.
Typekit | David Ruse Any web developer will tell you that effectively putting creative fonts on the web is one of the biggest hurdles to overcome. Unfortunately, most “cheat” their way out of it by converting them to images. David explores various current options for font replacement while pointing to an upcoming option that looks like it may take the cake: Typekit.
