Font Usage in a Website

Now that you are in complete control of your website with YouCantrol, you have the freedom to edit all of the text whenever you want as often as you like. But, be careful how you harness this awesome power.  I could not possibly convey everything I studied in Typography class in this short article, but I will provide you with just a few basic rules that should keep you out of trouble. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to contact me.

Rule #1: Pick the Right Font.

What font best fits your business? I've seen attorneys and accountants (fortunately, none of our clients) using Comic Sans or Papyrus as headlines or worse, body copy on their websites and brochures.  In addition to appearance, there's functionality. You must use web-safe fonts.  If you use a font called Big Happy Dog that you installed on your computer, and I don't have that font loaded on my machine, my browser will default to Arial. So stick with the basics.

Rule# 2: Readability is EVERYTHING!

Let's say your blogging about a great workout you had at the gym and you title the article: "Boy, Am I Pooped!" and you decide to add some fun coloring to your headline like this:

Boy, Am I Pooped!

The lack of readability of the yellow "ed" certainly changes the direction of your article. Choose a nice contrast from the background color using complimentary colors from your website.  Also, try not to use too many colors. It's confusing to the reader's eye and the brain will actually refuse to read the message.  I stumbled onto the Pico Rivera Chamber of Commerce website while researching a project for a client. I had to take a screen capture to illustrate my point (See Photo on the right).  Pico Rivera is a great city and I'm sure their Chamber is very pro business, but if anyone knows someone on the board, I'd love to redesign their site.

Rule# 3: Easy on the Attributes!

If everything is bold, nothing is special. Be selective about what is bold, italicized and highlighted. Bookmark and Share