Typography.

Typography is often reduced to choosing a beautiful typeface. But the typeface is only one part. At least as important are font size, line spacing, line length, spacing between paragraphs and headings, weight (regular, medium, bold) and the hierarchy between title, subtitle and body text. An ordinary typeface arranged cleanly reads better than a special typeface arranged badly.

For on-screen text, a few rules of thumb have proven themselves: body text at least 16 pixels, on desktop often 17 to 20; line spacing of roughly 1.4 to 1.7 times the font size; a line length of about 50 to 80 characters; sufficient contrast between text and background in line with WCAG. Headings can be much larger but need tighter line spacing so that multi-line titles do not fall apart.

When choosing type, what counts is the link between brand and function. Serif typefaces feel classic and work well for large headings; sans-serif typefaces stay robust on screens at small sizes. A combination of no more than two families has proven itself: one with character for headings, one with good readability for body text. Support for German and French special characters matters, as do figures suited to prices and tables, and a licence for web use.

Typography also affects the technology. Every additional font file lengthens the loading time; fonts that load late make text jump and worsen the Cumulative Layout Shift. Modern websites therefore load only the weights they need, use variable fonts and host them themselves rather than fetching them from external services such as Google Fonts.