The Top Fonts for Web Design
There are thousands of fonts available; hundreds of them are used by web designers. Nonetheless, designers have their favorites.
A quick look at the lists of favorites and you can some very important commonalities: All the best fonts for web design are clean and predictable. There are only a few with serifs (the extra little feet and ends that you find on some fonts). Each of the favorites list will look good whether it's one a 64” monitor or a 3” smartphone.
Another trait of the favorites is that nearly everyone has heard of:
Times New
Roman – This is the basic default
language for many programs and websites. TNR
has serifs and is very clean. It has the disadvantage of seeming a little
dated.
Arial
– This is a classic, sans serif (without serifs) font. It is simple and clean.
The only downside here is that is a
relatively thin font and can be hard to see when its small.
Georgia – A serif font and is similar
TNR, but is a bit thicker and stronger. The larger, cleaner look gives this a more modern look.
Others on the
list are Helvetica, Gotham, Myriad Pro and Futura. There are lots of lists that
include these fonts.
There are
comments around the internet from developers around the world mentioning some
other fonts that might be interesting.
Impact – This is a bold, thick
font that will look very clean and neat on a website. When its too small, it
can look crowded and run together. Larger font sizes, however, make it look
great on a website.
Century Gothic – This is a sans serif font that
is super clean, but a bit thin. Bolding it
can make it stand out off of the page.
Rockwell – This is a great billboard style
font. Making
it a bit larger can improve the
resolution.
In truth, it doesn't matter which fonts you choose. Choose the font that best expresses your design. For example, for a law office, you might find it best to use Times New Roman. It conveys old school, reliable and trustworthy.
Arial is more modern and clean. This would be great for a
web designer's site or for a restaurant website.
Probably the only real rules here are to avoid too many fonts on a page and avoid crazy funky fonts. Anything you do will reflect on your clients and you.
