What font to use, what size should it be, and how to lay it out (typography).

Lets start with font.

Fonts

Font (or “typeface”) is the style of a letter, for example Arial or Times New Roman. Fonts are generally divided into serif and sans-serif. A serif is the small “flare” at the end of strokes on letters. For example on the ends of the horizontal bar of the first letter T below, which is in Times New Roman. Compare it with second letter T which is in Arial.

T(with serif) T (sans serif)

Two issues connected with fonts are legibility and style.

Style

Sans serif fonts have a more modern and informal feel. Serif fonts are more conservative and classical. For example if you are a solicitor, a sans serif font may give the correct feel for your website, but if you sell software, it probably wouldn’t.
Beyond that it comes down to taste. In experiments», Times has come out least poular and Verdana most

Legibility and reading speed

Experiments» have been done on the legibility and reading speed (not the same thing) of different fonts at different sizes. The most commonly used fonts tend to be equally legible at the 10-, 12-, and 14-point size.
Tahoma 10 point was perceived as the most legible (surprising more legible than the same font at larger sizes!)

Layout (typography)

Entire books are devoted to this subject but this is intended to be a guide for people who are specifying what they want in a website, so this is an overview.
The temptation is to try and get as much information as possible in a document or web page, and fill all the space with words. The thought on the part of the author usually goes along the lines of “the more they know about my product, the more likely they are to buy it”. Yes, but that information has be presented in layers of increasing complexity - not all at once.

The biggest mistake is too many words!

White space is good!

Dont worry if you see gaps!

If you want to read more about typography, here’s a great starting point»

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