Why is typography important?
There are a number of answers to that question: because it can make (not break) the image you want to portray; putting the right font forward can help readability; using typography properly, like everything else, needs knowledge; the right font in the right place will be noticed and none of it is too difficult if you understand and respect a few basic principles.
Like everything else we notice the things we don’t like instantly but we don’t always know why – especially with typography. On websites especially most people pick a typeface and stick to it even if other have told them it doesn’t really work. I know people like a script face called ‘Comic’ because they think it is easy to read and friendly. The reality is it can make an unprofessional statement about your company too, especailly if you use it on correspondence.
But let’s get back to basics. We all know medium, italic and bold – they describe the look of the typeface. We know that a sefit faces have little flourishes on the end of the strokes – these are designed to make the typeface easier to read. A sans sefif face has no flourishes and the strokes end in a block. Some families of fonts have
over 20 variations of style. Each typeface has been carefully designed with a use in mind. A condensed face is ideal when you want the height of the statement to be as tall as possible without taking up too much room. The extended faces allow the opposite of that, size width wise without taking up too much height. Of the two options condensed is more readable. Study the widths shown bearing in mind each line is the same height.
