According to Don Norman, an aesthetically-pleasing site actually relaxes the user. This relaxation has a physiological effect on the brain that facilitates learning, decision-making, and the mechanical functions required to interact with the site. In short, appearance actually improves usability. A clean, visually consistent site gives users feelings of comfort, control, and familiarity.
Typography is more than selecting fonts. It is the study of how humans read, how they perceive information, how they recognize words and how the brain processes the information. Yes, it is an art but it is has its roots in human cognition. Typography for websites to be viewed in mobile and desktop need not be same, in terms the fonts and layout for the website cannot be scaled down for a smaller screen like phone. It would make the fonts too tiny resulting in illegibility. UXPin states this beautifully in their book ‘Mobile UI Trends present & future’, stating ‘Typography for small screens does not mean small type.’ The smaller the …show more content…
When it comes to designing for a website which is to be viewed through smart phones, it is always advisable to avoid decorative and overly elaborate fonts, such as scripts and novelty styles. Apart from typeface, giving comfortable space in between words is also important as too much space would break the flow and too little space would result in feeling cramped. The smaller the font size, the more space should be given in the leading to be perfectly legible. Space should provide the right amount of buffer for each readable thought. If we want elements to be read together, we can keep the space a little tighter and when the idea changes we can add extra space to give readers a break, before moving onto the next thing. According to UXPin, “Think of the words as bricks. Each word is a brick and the space between is mortar; even if the blocks are of varying sizes the space between each is rather uniform. This visualization can help you establish visual guidelines for how words should look, rather than what they say.” We should always remember that every printed word communicates two meanings; the literal definition and the emotion of the typography. Since different people interpret typography in different ways, just as they interpret a painting in different ways, we should never forget who our user personas. Even within the target audience, differences in age, gender, social status, etc. will all have subtle