Do you have a habit of reading? Do you like reading articles, blog posts about your FAVOURITE topics? Not everyone is a fan of reading books but it is a very good habit.
Do you remember the last book you read which was so long that it it took you almost an eternity to read? Mine would probably be Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari. It is an amazing book, but it has over 500 pages!
Because you have read the two paragraphs above, did you notice a couple of things I have done in the sentences. Notice I wrote the words favorite in all caps? Or How I highlighted the book name in bold. Why would I do that? Because the words hold something different and I want to highlight that particular thing.
This is how we go with typography as well. The fonts you use in your projects, the way you show text, its representation matters a lot. While the way I did above isn't that big of a deal, but it was to tell you about it.
Let's understand this using an example. Assume this is an excerpt from a letter,
Dear Ely,
I can't believe we are at this stage of time. I wouldn't have thought it would come to a situation like this.
I can't wait to see you and tell you all about it..
Simple, right? What do you think these lines are portraying?
Now take a look at this,
DEAR ELY,
I CAN'T BELIEVE WE ARE AT THIS STAGE OF TIME.
I WOULDN'T HAVE THOUGHT IT WOULD COME TO A SITUATION LIKE THIS.
I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE YOU AND TELL YOU ALL ABOUT IT..
Do you feel a sense of change here? In the tone of the letter?
The point is, fonts can change the tone of your words and it certainly affects the tone of your book/project.
While the first one gives a sober tone with mix of both happy and sad emotions, the fonts in the latter one gives a traditional, old vibe.
(For me, atleast). Get your friends to read your copy to know the "tone" they are getting from it.
There are a load of fonts and numerous places where you can get typography knowledge from.
Some key takeaways which you can use:-
- ONLY CAPS-SCREAM, WHEN IT IS NECESSARY. That means, Not every sentence has to be with spammed with Caps-lock ON. Use it, where needed. Writing in uppercase implies to your user that you are shouting something or announcing something big which is not the case, all the time. (Right?)
- Font style matter. You can take a look at Google Fonts and browse the plethora of font styles to pick from. Each font tells a different story.
- Use bold and italics, this and this in your paragraphs to emphasis content accordingly. The bold is primarily used to get your attention to a particular keyword. Remember, If someone is skimming through your article, they are most likely to remember these keywords.
I hope this post conveys what I am trying to explain. If you some interesting insight regarding the same, let me know at on Twitter.
Update
I am working on an interesting project, Designtack. It's a solution to a problem I resonate with a lot. I will be writing about it in a seperate blog about how I had it's idea (back when I was building an agency). Also, I finished Responsive Web Design Certification from Freecodecamp . I started it a year back and now finally completed it :) You should also think about utilising the current time to do something productive or learn something? While also being safe and taking precautions. Did you wash your hands?
If you are looking for a way to improve your web skills, You should take a look at courses offered by FCC.
Hope you are having a nice week.
-VD