Why Studying Font Is Important

Unlike in print, where using novel font types is encouraged, selecting a unique yet universally acceptable font is a lot more difficult for the web. First, you need to worry about whether the font you select is commonly available on all browsers and types of computers. If you select a font that is not universally accepted, then you need to include it as an image on your page, slowing download times. For example, Montotype, a custom font developer, showcases its unique fonts on its homepage through many small gif files. The result is a very slow downloading page. In addition, there are two major categories of fonts you need to decide between: fonts designed for the web and fonts designed for print. Although certain fonts were designed specifically for reading on the web, it is unclear whether these fonts are superior to print fonts.

On a related note, there is significant research showing that people read print faster and more accurately than text on computer screens (Mills, Weldon, 1987). Unfortunately, no one cause of why reading online is less effective than reading print outs has been discovered (Mills, Weldon, 1987). Since it would be impractical and environmentally disastrous to have all web text printed out, clearly there is a need to find the best way of increasing font readability and legibility online.

When choosing a perfect font, designers must worry about what fonts you can use to differentiate between sections on a page. Visual style guidelines recommend having fonts that look different, but it is hard to know how much contrast is ideal. One easy way to create contrast is with different font sizes, but it is difficult to know what the minimum font size should be. Given that a website is likely to have visitors who prefer different font sizes, finding a happy medium can be challenging. Although it might make sense to increase font size throughout a site to cater to older readers, doing so will mean that you have less available space on the page in which to place content.

The easiest way to contrast font is to use both serif and sans-serif fonts. Serif fonts are distinguished by the small strokes they have at the end of letters. Sans-serif fonts do not have these extra strokes. The New York Times uses Times New Roman, a serif font throughout its site. In contrast, USA Today relies on Arial and other sans-serif fonts. It is often assumed that sans-serif fonts are preferable to serif fonts for the web because they are easier to read. However, since serif and sans-serif together offer such a nice contrast, it is worthwhile to look again at whether sans-serif fonts should be used exclusively online. In addition, the question of using serif fonts relates to the decision to use web or print fonts. Are web serif fonts preferable to print serif fonts? Are web serif fonts preferable to print sans-serif fonts?

A final concern is how much whitespace is ideal for readers. While in print double-spaced text is easier to read than single spaced text, it is unclear whether more spacing is always better on the web. There seems to be a tipping point for whitespace on a page between letters and lines of text - too much whitespace can render a page unreadable. One intended outcome of this project is to gain a better understanding of what qualifies as the right amount of whitespace on a page. An additional need is to identify what other less obvious font decisions are important when deciding what font to use on a page. For instance, what role do decisions concerning font color, caps or small caps, and variable-width fonts play?

The goal is this project is to gain a better understanding of what fonts can be used in combination to build creative yet readable pages. Specifically, I am interested in the following questions: