The purpose of content, regardless of the choice of font, size, colour, and design, is to communicate one’s thoughts. The aesthetic of the text is just as important, as the composition of sentences and paragraphs, in conveying ideas, to the reader, with clarity. So, it’s not just what, but also how, a writer presents their content, that determines its impact on the reader. Better typography produces better content.
How does typography affect content?
- Typography is crucial in invoking and sustaining a reader’s interest from the first line to the last.
- It can enhance the overall readability of the text.
- It makes the reading experience less effortful, thus allowing the reader to absorb the content with ease.
- 90% of the content we consume on the web, in books, posters, and emails, is text. So, typography is not a mere afterthought. It is a primary factor that determines the reach and impact of the content it presents.
In essence, typography is:
Where type refers to letters and other characters which are arranged to form textual content.
How to choose a Typeface?
Writers are often confronted with the task of choosing the appropriate font to deliver their content.
Here are a few factors to consider when choosing a typeface:
-
Choosing a typeface with multiple weights to create textual contrast
Varying the text weights will add contrast to the content. Apart from beautifying the text, it also helps to distinguish key text fragments from the rest of the content.
-
Tailor the content to suit your audience
While creating content, the writer should have the intended audience in mind. The readers’ age, interests, and cultural backgrounds determine what they read.
For instance, children and adults prefer different types of fonts.
To stimulate an interest in reading, young readers need well-shaped and legible letters, such as Sassoon Primary or Gill Sans. Similarly, commonly used font styles such as Roboto or Futura are more appealing to adults.
How to add variety and flair to text content?
Contrasting helps to draw the focus of readers to certain words or phrases. It also establishes hierarchy within the content and creates seamless content flow, by building relationships. Thus making it easy to navigate the different sections of the content.
Techniques of contrasting
Variation in text is achieved by:
- Adjusting the weight of text
- Underlining text
- Styling text using italics
- Changing size and color of the font
- And many more
Writers can define their own style of contrasting, as well.
Tips: To reflect hierarchy in the content, font size of the text can be adjusted by 1.5x to 2x. This together with a variation in the weight of the text, will help the writer create visible gradations within, and between, sections.
How to make text more engrossing?
Creating a style guide for typography will help writers standardize type and enhance legibility across their content.
Keeping the right line height for the text content
The vertical space between lines is crucial to the visual impact of the content. Narrow line spacing makes the content look crammed and will prove tedious to the reader. While increasing line spacing improves readability drastically, it adds to the content real estate.
Tips: For better legibility, the line height of the text should be between 1.2 to 1.5 times the size of the font.
Takeaway
Typography plays a significant role in the process of writing textual content. Good typography makes reading effortless, whereas poor typography is off putting. Since typography is as much an art as it is a technique, the scope for experimentation is unlimited. Writers should play with different styles and patterns, before settling on the one that suits their content best.
