The visual component of the written word is typography. Typography sets a mood of the content. A good typography introduces positive vibes and delivers a delightful experience to users.
Readability refers to the way in which words and blocks of type are arranged on a page. Readability is dependent upon how the typeface is used.
Readability:
Line length
Kerning
Tracking
Alignment
Leading
How well one individual character can be distinguished from another is legibility. It’s an informal measure of how easy it is to distinguish one letter from another.
Legibility:
Point size
Font style
X-height
Character shape
Serif or sans serif
Choosing right typography increases the readability of the content and so the associated actions. In order to use typography effectively, we must anticipate how the use of fonts and styling will influence our customers or audience, even in ways they are not conscious of initially.
Typography creates brand recognition.
When a company is developing a brand identity a persistent type of fonts should be used, each with a particular reason. Typography helps brands to remain in the minds of users. Choosing the wrong font can completely change the personality of your brand.
Serif or Sans Serif?
Both styles have their own unique personality and communicate very
different messages.
For projects involving lengthy text, such as magazines, books, newspapers, serif typefaces are the most commonly used typestyle. There are many exceptions to this, but that is the most common usage.
The recommendation is that Sans Serif is the best for web, but we make the choice based on other considerations - such as branding, or the mood communicated by a particular typographical style.
'Don't mistake legibility for communication.' David Carson
