The science behind fonts (and how they make you feel)

I’ve noticed how seemingly small things like font and the spacing between letters can impact how I feel when reading online. The right font choice along with the absence of sidebars and popups makes everything feel easier and better to read. Websites like Medium, Signal vs. Just look at the difference between Medium and Cracked: Exhibit A) Medium.com Exhibit B) Cracked.com When you compare the two, it’s obvious which one makes you feel like crud. The Cracked layout is painful to look at. After experimenting with how we display content on the ooomf blog, I discovered there’s an element of science behind why we feel this way toward certain typefaces and layouts. How we read When we read, our eyes follow a natural pattern called a Scan Path. We break sentences up into scans (saccades) and pauses (fixations). Your eyes typically move across a page for between 7-9 letters before needing to pause to process what you’re reading. So why does this matter? Why the right font layout makes you feel good 1.

untitled 47 Top Typography Tools and Resources Typography is the foundation of design on the web. Back in 2006, designer and founder of iA Oliver Reichenstein even went so far as to proclaim "web design is 95% typography." It's imperative, then, to have a thorough, grounded education in optimizing and utilizing typography to create a balanced, harmonious, accessible hierarchy of content, when working on the web. To help you improve and learn more about typography, we have compiled 25 useful tools and resources, from fundamentals to modular scales. Have we left out your favorite typography tool or resource? 1. Founded in 2008, Typekit offers a library of fonts, from old classics to new favorites, which can be used on the web. The browsing interface is well organized. 2. Recently acquired by Monotype, Typecast provides a platform to quickly style type in the browser and check for readability, rendering and beauty as you work. 3. Typetester was launched back in 2005, and is still a useful tool today. 4. 5. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14.