Some websites are all eye candy while others are tomes of content and information. No matter the purpose your site serves, you will need to provide your visitors with information. That information is conveyed with text and that text is comprised of fonts. Different fonts have different personalities and convey different emotions to your visitors. So which font(s) should you use?
First you need to become familiar with the fonts that are available to you. Non-graphical fonts are more limited. Some frequently used web-safe font stacks can be found at:
or in Smashing Magazine’s guide to css font stacks just to name two references.
For graphical fonts, you can use whichever font you wish. There are many sites that offer fonts free of charge.
Font sites like those above allow you to scroll through various fonts. This lets you to see which fonts have the look you envision for your site. Bear in mind size, color, readability as well as contrast. You can utilize each of these to keep your fonts lively and engaging. You can pair sans serif fonts with serif ones, large text with small and various colors and backgrounds to energize your site.
Spend some time looking at other sites. See how they are using fonts and text. What looks pleasing and exciting? Which ones are somewhat bland? Start to compile a list of what you’ve learned and begin to utilize it on your own internet presence.
