Effective and Ineffective Use of Font in Web Design: Blog Review

When creating a layout design, it is important to use varying types and sizes of fonts in order to draw the target audience’s eye through the work from beginning to end.  Additionally, using a limited array of fonts in varying sizes makes the document easier for the audience to read as “Fonts with exaggerated x-heights are easier to read (x-height refers to the height of a lowercase x within a typeface) (Marsh, Guth, & Short, 2009, p. 103).  According to the course text, “Georgia or Lucida Grande” is suggested “for body type and Veranda for headlines” (Marsh, Guth, & Short, 2009, p. 103). 

The website http://thebeautydepartment.com/ is a health and beauty blog that I frequent that I feel uses a variety of fonts effectively.  By alternating between a soft and a masculine font, this blog successfully emphasizes the important points of each post while still drawing the reader through the rest of the post as well as successive posts (Conrad & Ess).

Though using more than one font in a layout can reinforce the points being asserted, using too many fonts can distract a reader and the message can be lost.  Another website, http://perezhilton.com/ is also a blog that I frequent, however, much less often.  The array of fonts and font sizes in conjunction with the busy arrangement of the page makes it difficult and confusing to read the site for very long and I often end up closing the browser before finishing a single article ("Perez hilton," ) 

    

Conrad, L., & Ess, K. (n.d.). The beauty department. Retrieved from http://thebeautydepartment.com/

Marsh, C., Guth, D., & Short, B. (2009). Strategic Writing: Multimedia Writing for Public Relations, Advertising and More. Boston: Pearson Education Inc.

Perez hilton. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://perezhilton.com/