What is typography?
The craft of arranging type so it's readable, clear and full of character. One of the quietest, most powerful tools in design.
Typography is the craft of choosing and arranging type (the fonts, the sizes, the spacing, the rhythm) so that words are easy to read and carry the right feeling. It’s most of what you see on most websites, so getting it right does a lot of quiet work.
More than picking a font
Good typography is about relationships: the jump in scale between a headline and body text, the length of a line, the space between lines, the contrast that guides your eye through a page. Done well, you don’t notice it. You just find the page easy and pleasant to read.
Why it carries the brand
Type has a voice. The same words set in a sturdy grotesque, a warm serif or a handwritten script say completely different things about who’s speaking. That’s why typography is a core part of any brand identity, often doing more work than the logo.
A few fundamentals
- Keep line length comfortable (roughly 60 to 75 characters)
- Use scale and weight to build a clear hierarchy
- Give text room to breathe
- Pick fewer families and use them with range
Strong typography is also strong UX: clarity is a feeling, and type is how you create it.