Between Content and Design Lives Typeface
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Fonts and typefaces are the stylistically different words that make up at least half of our interaction with the web. They define spaces, tones, and everything we see or read that isn’t video or imagery. Despite this, fonts and typefaces get little credit and even less consideration.
How often do you visit a site and think “Wow! This font really brings the page together? For most, a website is the coming together of two important components, those being design and content. And it’s true that these two facets should ultimately define how your website stands apart and draws in web traffic - but there’s always more to it than that.
The best place to start might be to define the difference between a font and a typeface. Think of a font as the different parts that collectively make up a typeface. These parts include sizing (10, 12, 14), styling (bold, italic), version, and more. Fonts are all of the letters and symbols, each with their own size and formatting, that thematically come together as a typeface like Garamond.
Choosing a typeface is as important as choosing the nature of your content or the colour of your website, and here’s why: typeface exists in the space between design and content. It carries the weight of a visual experience and is the voice of your website. It is the quintessential tie that unifies imagery, colour, and tone to establish an experience, and it does this quietly and expertly. It doesn’t lead the charge, but it plays its role in defining your brand or your product, and should not be overlooked.
Like any powerful design asset typeface deserves your consideration, but should never be deployed recklessly. Colours and styles, though rigid to a point, are flexible in ways that typeface simply can’t be. An extreme sports site adorned in cursive is one of many examples of an instance where typeface will fail. For typeface to be effective, it must be the invisible voice that asserts tones and themes - never drawing attention away from the experience and to itself. If your reader is considering your font or typeface for more than a moment, it has failed.
Part of typeface’s historic alienation from web design originates from technological limitations. There was a time when typefaces like Arial, Comic Sans, Times New Roman, and Trebuchet were categorized as “web safe”. Tools like Typekit and Google Fonts have eradicated that designation and returned typeface power to the people, but the average user is still hesitant to move away from those prior standards.
Once you muster the courage to step into the garden of typefaces, you’ll discover a stylistic tool that is not only useful online, but will come to represent your brand in all forms of marketing - from your website to your business card. If you have the confidence and the awareness to pick a typeface that empowers your brand, you’ll be positioned to bring your voice to a whole new level.
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