The main part of any interface is expressed in text, although the role of design is to present this text in a correct and readable way. Text, being at the core of the transmission of information, makes a big impression. No matter whether the message you convey is informative or expressive, it is important that it presents your brand in the correct way. This happens on two levels of perception – the tone (or voice) of your brand on the one hand – that is, the content of the message and the font, that is, its form.
It is for this reason that it is good to think carefully about what fonts you will use and where.
Fonts are:
- Serif – have small swirls, which we call serifs. They have a classic, traditional look. In web design they are used mainly for titles.
- Sans-serif – clean, without serifs, modern and easy to read, especially on a display.
- Monospace – monospace fonts are fonts in which each letter takes up exactly the same amount of space as every other, regardless of their expected width.
As in web design, it is recommended to use readable fonts rather than “beautiful” or “impressive” fonts.
From the perspective of the feeling they leave on the perceiver, fonts can be:
- Plain
- Neutral
- Exotic
- Graphic (picturesque)
Key terms
- Leading – leading is the distance between lines of text. This distance is usually measured in points and is measured from one baseline to the other
- Tracking – this is the distance between individual characters.
- Kerning – the distance between two specific characters in a given text
- Glyph – the specific representation of a given character
The characters in typography are conceptual, not graphic. In this sense, the letter “a” is a character, while this particular spelling 
we call a glyph.
How to choose a font
If we use two or more (it is not recommended to have more) fonts in a web project, it is good to consider the following when choosing:
- Opposites attract – use different styles, sizes, colors, weights and capitalization of fonts.
- Use a family – you can use different styles to create contrast.
- Consider the project – each project (brand) creates a certain mood, which can be emphasized by the appropriate font.
- Diversify – often, for example, in some newspapers, serif headlines and sans-serif text are used.
Font Usage Rules
The following is a non-exhaustive list of font usage rules:
- Use classic font families
- Limit the number of families you use – 1-3 is enough for each project
- Avoid monotonous fonts – make sure you create clear visual distinction and contrast
- Use capitalization correctly – text written in all caps is extremely difficult to read – most people will simply skip over it.
- Use a readable font size – 10-12pt at least
- Don’t mix font sizes and weights with specific functions. Choose one style and stick to it
- The fonts you use should evoke the same emotion
- Create contrast. For the text to be readable, the letters must stand out strongly enough from the background behind them
- Do not use underlining (except for links), use italics
