Choosing a typeface you can live with
A typeface is the one design decision that touches every single screen. It deserves more than an afternoon.
Idris Vance
Contributing writer
Picking type is the closest thing a website has to picking a voice. It runs through the headline, the fine print and the button label, so a face that is merely interesting will wear thin long before the project does.
Start with the body, not the headline
It is tempting to audition display faces first, because that is where the personality lives. Start instead with the paragraph you expect people to actually read. If it is comfortable at fifteen or sixteen pixels, across a full column, on a mediocre screen, the rest of the system has a foundation.
Two faces is usually enough
One for reading, one for structure. A third rarely earns its keep, and each additional family costs load time and consistency. Where a project needs more range, look for a family with real weights and a true italic before reaching for another name.
Then live with it for a week. The faces that survive a week of ordinary work are the ones worth committing to.
