How Fonts Can Influence the Tone of Your Website

Your website serves the primary and general purpose of providing real estate information to the public. But its effectiveness at this is a result of many contributing factors.

Creating strong visual interest can greatly improve your visitor’s perception of your site and, in turn, of you. Using relevant and appropriate imagery, adhering to simple design principles of alignment and other guidelines can give you a big boost in this department. (See this article for more on that.)  Another visual element that is often overlooked is fonts. Fonts work in conjunction with imagery and colours to really set the tone of your website or other marketing piece. They can convey a variety of styles from modern to fancy, casual, serious or even happy.

I will demonstrate below some examples of font styles that create a particular feel or tone on a website.

But first, there is something about fonts you should keep in mind. People access the web using many different types of computers, operating systems (Windows, Mac OS / iOS, Android, BlackBerry OS etc.) and versions thereof. Some people use computers that are 10 years old; some use the most modern machines available. There are only a handful of fonts that are common to all of these different computers. They are called Web Safe fonts, and include such common fonts as Arial, Times New Roman, and Courier.

If you employ a font in text on your website that is not Web Safe, someone who does not have that font will read the text in their default font. This is not ideal, because the style and size of fonts can vary significantly. It can distort the intended look of the writing. That is why it’s always best to use a Web Safe font for most text on your site.

If you want to add some pizzazz with your fonts, to perhaps convey a particular tone as mentioned above, you can use an image to get around the Web Safe restrictions. Images are typically used in this fashion on a header banner, menu, or heading. Images of text should be used sparingly, however, as an overload of images can act as a detriment to Search Engine Optimization initiatives, can cause slow loading and moreover can visually overpower your website.  You may also want to take a look at this article for other tips on search engine optimization with images.

I could try to explain in more detail how certain fonts can influence the look of a site, but it is easier just to show you!

Here is a basic header that employs several different fonts.

• Script font (Bickham Script Pro) = Fancy, Elegant, Upscale

• Sans-Serif font (Century Gothic) = Minimal, Modern and Professional

• Handwritten font (Segoe Script) = Casual and Playful

• Basic Sans-Serif font (Myriad Pro Bold) = Bold and Clear, to-the-point

See what a difference a simple font change can make? The impact will be even more pronounced if you use imagery to match the font style. For example, pairing the minimal, modern font with an image of a modern interior home would further emphasize the look. Or, pairing the script font with an image of an upscale, elegant home would give a similar cohesion.

The myriad of fonts available these days allows you to get really creative. As long as you remember to make sure the font is readable, the possibilities are pretty much endless in terms of the different looks you can shape with fonts.

Authored by: Tara, Client Relations