The choice of font (typeface) in a website or print or video piece can make a BIG difference in the impact or effectiveness. Fonts communicate emotion and style, are easier or more difficult to read, stand out or not.
But you’re limited in the use of fonts in websites because of the way websites work.
When you “go” to a website on your computer, you are connecting with a computer (“website hosting server”) where that website is stored and connects to the Internet. The server sends to your computer, not the page, but instructions to your computer on how to build and display that page on your screen.
The instructions are in a language called HTML which is supposed to be universal to computers around the world. And, for the most part, that is true. Your computer will interpret those instructions the same way as another computer halfway around the world, built by a different manufacturer, running different software.
As best they can.
Because for text, for one thing, the instructions tell your computer what font to display it in. What if your computer doesn’t have that font installed on it? There are only perhaps a dozen fonts that can pretty much be counted on to be on English speaking computers everywhere. Even then, websites usually offer your computer a choice of at least a couple of similar fonts, in case you only have one or another. PCs usually have “Arial”, Macs usually have “Helvetica” – similar but not identical fonts.
If you want to use a less common font in your website, you have to use a picture that has the text in the font you want. That’s more work, it has disadvantages for search engine optimization, it makes for a “heavier” website (larger file sizes, so slower).
There are other issues, even if the computer at the receiving end has the font you want. There is a big difference between how the “same size” text looks on a 15 inch monitor and a 23″ monitor. On one it might be difficult for a senior citizen to read. On the other it might be so large as to be “horsy” (large or clumsy looking).
You probably didn’t know there was so much to just the choice of fonts in text, eh? We like to think of it as another good reason why website design is best done by professionals.
