Blog
Typography tips, font pairing guides, and design insights.
Typeface vs. Font: What's the Difference and Why It Matters
Typeface is the design family, font is a specific instance. This distinction matters for licensing, CSS, and communicating with designers.
Typographic Color: Achieving Even Text Texture
Typographic color isn't about literal color — it's the visual density of text on a page. Learn how to achieve that perfectly even, comfortable texture.
Choosing Fonts for Your Brand: A Strategic Framework
Font choice communicates brand personality before anyone reads a word. A strategic framework for choosing typography that matches your brand identity.
Preventing Layout Shift (CLS) from Font Loading
Font loading is a hidden source of Cumulative Layout Shift. Learn size-adjust, font metric overrides, and strategies to eliminate font-related CLS.
@font-face: The Complete Guide to Custom Web Fonts
Everything about @font-face — syntax, format selection, unicode-range subsetting, font-display strategies, and self-hosting vs. CDN.
Font Subsetting: Cut Font File Sizes by 90%
Most web fonts contain thousands of unused characters. Learn how to subset fonts to load only what you need — cutting file sizes dramatically.
Typography for Dark Mode: Contrast and Readability Adjustments
Dark mode typography needs different treatment — lighter weights, adjusted contrast, and careful color choices to maintain readability.
Typography Design Tokens: From Figma to CSS
Design tokens bridge design and development — font family, size, weight, line-height, and spacing as structured, platform-agnostic values.
Fluid Typography with CSS clamp(): No Media Queries Needed
Build responsive typography that scales smoothly between viewport sizes using CSS clamp(). No breakpoints, no media queries, one line of CSS.
Vertical Rhythm: Aligning Text to a Baseline Grid
Vertical rhythm creates visual harmony by aligning all text and spacing to a consistent baseline grid — challenging on the web but achievable.
From Gutenberg to Google Fonts: A Brief History of Type
The 600-year journey from Gutenberg's movable type to Google Fonts' open-source revolution — how type technology shaped communication and design.
Merriweather vs Lora: Best Serif for Body Text?
Both are excellent screen serifs for long-form reading. Merriweather vs Lora — which delivers better body text readability?
font-display: swap, fallback, optional — Which to Choose
The font-display CSS descriptor controls what users see while fonts load. Each value has tradeoffs — here's how to choose the right one.
Inter: The Complete Font Guide
Inter was designed for computer screens from day one. A complete guide to the font that became the default choice for modern UI design.
Poppins: A Designer's Complete Guide
Poppins brings geometric precision with a friendly personality. A complete guide to one of Google Fonts' most popular display-ready sans-serifs.
Open Sans: Why It's Still Everywhere
Open Sans has been a top-5 Google Font for over a decade. Why this humanist sans-serif remains a reliable workhorse for body text.
Type Anatomy 101: Every Part of a Letter Explained
Learn the building blocks of typography — from baselines and x-heights to stems, bowls, and terminals. Understanding type anatomy helps you choose better fonts.
Space Grotesk: Geometric Sans With Character
Space Grotesk adds quirky personality to the geometric sans genre. Why this distinctive font is perfect when you want clean but not generic.
Inter vs Roboto: Which Should You Use?
The two most popular UI fonts go head to head. Inter vs Roboto — visual differences, metrics, rendering, and when to pick each one.
Oswald vs Bebas Neue: Condensed Display Face-Off
Two condensed display fonts that dominate headlines. Oswald vs Bebas Neue — which bold, narrow typeface should you reach for?
Best Fonts for Presentations and Slides
Presentations demand fonts that are readable at a distance, work at large sizes, and look polished. The best Google Fonts for slides.
Kerning, Tracking, and Leading: Mastering Type Spacing
The three pillars of type spacing — kerning (letter pairs), tracking (overall letterspacing), and leading (line spacing). Small adjustments, big impact.
Best Google Fonts for E-commerce Stores
E-commerce typography affects trust and conversions. The best Google Fonts for product pages, checkout flows, and e-commerce branding.
Best Handwriting Fonts on Google Fonts
Handwriting fonts add a personal, human touch to design. The best script and handwriting fonts on Google Fonts — from elegant to casual.
How to Use @font-face: Step-by-Step
A step-by-step tutorial on using CSS @font-face to load custom fonts — syntax, format selection, and practical examples you can copy-paste.
Serif vs. Sans-Serif for the Web: The Definitive Comparison
The oldest debate in typography, answered for the web. When to use serif, when to use sans-serif, and what the research actually says.
Typography for Legal and Financial Websites
Legal and financial websites demand authority, clarity, and precision. How to choose typography that conveys professionalism and trustworthiness.
Font Classification Guide: Serif, Sans-Serif, and Everything Between
A practical guide to font classification — serif vs. sans-serif, humanist vs. geometric, display vs. body. Know the families to choose the right font for any project.
Typographic Hierarchy: Guide the Reader's Eye
Create clear visual hierarchy with font size, weight, color, and spacing. Learn the principles that make content scannable and easy to navigate.
X-Height and Readability: Why Some Fonts Feel Larger
Fonts at the same pixel size can look dramatically different. The secret is x-height — and it affects readability more than you think.
Monospace Fonts: A Developer's Guide to Picking the Perfect Coding Font
Choosing a coding font is a daily decision that affects productivity. Compare the best monospace fonts for programming — ligatures, readability, and style.
Font Pairing by Contrast: Serif + Sans Combinations
The most reliable pairing strategy: combine a serif with a sans-serif. Learn which specific combinations work and why contrast is the foundation of good pairing.
Best Google Fonts for Headings: Display Fonts That Command Attention
Headings need personality. Here are the best Google Fonts for headlines — bold, distinctive, and optimized for large sizes.
Fonts for Different Industries: SaaS, E-commerce, Blogs, Portfolios
Industry-specific font recommendations — what typography conveys trust in SaaS, drives conversions in e-commerce, and creates engagement on blogs.
Variable Fonts: The Complete CSS Guide
Variable fonts pack an entire family into one file. Learn the CSS for weight, width, slant, and custom axes — with interactive examples.
CSS Font Stacks: Best Practices for Fallback Fonts
Build bulletproof CSS font stacks with perfect fallbacks. How to order fonts, use system-ui, and avoid the CLS flash when web fonts load.
Google Fonts Performance: Speed Tips and Best Practices
Google Fonts is convenient but can slow your site. Optimize loading with display=swap, preconnect hints, self-hosting, and subset loading.
px vs rem vs em: When to Use Which CSS Unit
The eternal CSS unit question, answered clearly. When to use px, rem, and em for font sizes, spacing, and responsive design.
Web Font Performance: The Complete Optimization Guide
Everything you need to know about font performance — file size, loading strategies, render blocking, and how fonts affect Core Web Vitals.
Font Preloading: Prioritize Your Most Important Fonts
Use <link rel=preload> to tell the browser which fonts matter most. Reduce FOUT, improve LCP, and understand when preloading helps vs. hurts.
How to Self-Host Google Fonts
Self-hosting Google Fonts gives you full control over loading, privacy, and caching. A step-by-step guide from download to deployment.
Variable Fonts for Performance: One File to Rule Them All
Variable fonts can replace 6+ static font files with one. The performance implications — file size, HTTP requests, and real-world benchmarks.
Dyslexia-Friendly Fonts: What Research Actually Shows
Dedicated dyslexia fonts (like OpenDyslexic) get attention, but research shows that familiar, well-spaced sans-serif fonts are equally effective.
Screen Readers and Typography: What You Need to Know
Screen readers ignore visual typography but semantic markup matters. How your HTML heading structure, language attributes, and text affects screen reader users.
Responsive Typography in Design Systems
Scaling typography across breakpoints — responsive type scales, fluid sizing with clamp(), and maintaining hierarchy from mobile to desktop.
Choosing a Primary Font for Your Design System
Your primary font is the most visible design decision in your system. How to evaluate character set, weights, variable axes, and licensing for a system font.
The Helvetica Story: How One Font Conquered the World
From a Swiss type foundry in 1957 to the world's most recognizable typeface — Helvetica's story is the story of modern design itself.
The Open Source Font Revolution: How Free Fonts Changed Everything
Free, open-source fonts democratized typography. From SIL's Open Font License to Google Fonts' 1,900+ families — how it happened and why it matters.
Roboto: Everything You Need to Know
Google's signature typeface powers Android and Material Design. Everything you need to know about Roboto — from its controversial debut to its current dominance.
Playfair Display: The Modern Serif for Headlines
Playfair Display brings high contrast and editorial elegance to the web. The go-to serif for luxury brands, editorial sites, and eye-catching headlines.
Lato: The Friendly Professional Font
Lato balances warmth and stability like no other sans-serif. Why this Polish-designed font is a quiet favorite for professional websites worldwide.
DM Sans: The Rising Star of UI Typography
DM Sans is the new darling of modern UI design. Clean, geometric, and subtly distinctive — why designers are choosing it over Inter and Roboto.
Arial vs Helvetica: The Differences Explained
They look almost identical to the untrained eye. But Arial and Helvetica have key differences — and a complicated history of imitation and rivalry.
Poppins vs Montserrat: Geometric Sans Face-Off
Two of the most popular geometric sans-serifs on Google Fonts, compared. Poppins vs Montserrat — which one fits your project better?
Playfair Display vs EB Garamond: Serifs Compared
Two of the best serif fonts on Google Fonts — one modern and dramatic, the other classic and refined. When to reach for each.
Source Sans vs Inter: Which for UI?
Adobe's Source Sans 3 and Rasmus Andersson's Inter both aim for UI excellence. How they differ and which to pick for your interface.
JetBrains Mono vs Fira Code: Coding Font Showdown
The two most popular coding fonts with programming ligatures battle it out. JetBrains Mono vs Fira Code — which is better for your IDE?
DM Sans vs Nunito Sans: Clean Sans Compared
Both are clean, modern sans-serifs gaining traction in UI design. DM Sans vs Nunito Sans — the subtle differences that matter.
Source Serif vs Merriweather: Screen Serif Showdown
Two serifs built for screen reading excellence. Source Serif 4 vs Merriweather — which screen-optimized serif is better for your content?
IBM Plex Sans vs Inter: Enterprise Fonts Compared
IBM Plex Sans and Inter both target professional UI design, but with different design philosophies. A detailed comparison for enterprise use.
Noto Sans vs Roboto: Global vs Android
Both are Google-backed sans-serifs, but Noto Sans targets global language coverage while Roboto powers Android. How to choose between them.
Best Fonts for Logos and Branding
Your logo font communicates brand personality before anyone reads a word. The best Google Fonts for logos, wordmarks, and brand identity.
Best Free Fonts for Commercial Use
All Google Fonts are free for commercial use under the SIL Open Font License. Here are the best ones for professional, commercial projects.
Best Display Fonts for Eye-Catching Headlines
Display fonts are designed to grab attention at large sizes. The best display fonts on Google Fonts for bold, memorable headlines.
Best Variable Fonts on Google Fonts
Variable fonts offer infinite flexibility in a single file. The best variable fonts on Google Fonts — for performance, design flexibility, and creative control.
How to Choose a Font for Your Website
A practical, step-by-step framework for choosing the right font for your website — audience, purpose, readability, and personality.
How to Pair Fonts Like a Designer
A practical, step-by-step method for pairing fonts — no design degree required. Follow this process to create professional font combinations every time.
Typography for Healthcare and Medical Websites
Healthcare websites must be trustworthy, accessible, and easy to read for all audiences. The typography choices that convey care and professionalism.
OpenType Features: Ligatures, Small Caps, and Beyond
Unlock hidden font features — ligatures, small caps, tabular numbers, stylistic alternates, and more. Most fonts have capabilities you've never used.
The Complete Guide to Font Pairing
Master font pairing from first principles — contrast, concordance, and conflict. Learn the rules, then learn when to break them.
5 Rules for Choosing Font Combinations That Always Work
Five battle-tested rules for font pairing that work every time — no design degree required. Follow these and your typography will always look professional.
Font Pairing Mistakes: 7 Combinations to Avoid
Learn from the most common font pairing errors — fonts that clash, compete, or confuse. See what not to do (and what to do instead).
Best Google Fonts for Body Text in 2026
The definitive ranking of Google Fonts optimized for long-form reading — tested for x-height, character width, hinting quality, and reading comfort.
Google Fonts by Category: The Complete Browsing Guide
Navigate Google Fonts' 1,900+ font library efficiently — organized by category, use case, and popularity with curated recommendations.
CSS Typography Properties: The Complete Reference
Every CSS typography property explained with examples — font-family, font-size, font-weight, line-height, letter-spacing, and more.
Type Scale with CSS Custom Properties: A Practical Guide
Build a harmonious type scale using CSS custom properties — modular ratios, responsive scaling, and design token integration.
Google Fonts: The Developer's Complete Guide
Everything a developer needs to know about Google Fonts — the API, CSS integration, self-hosting, performance optimization, and v2 API changes.
CSS text-rendering and Font Smoothing Explained
Should you use -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased? What does text-rendering: optimizeLegibility actually do? The definitive answers.
Understanding Font Weights: 100 to 900 Explained
Font weight naming is inconsistent and confusing. Here's the definitive guide to the 100-900 scale, CSS mapping, and variable font weight ranges.
FOUT vs FOIT: Understanding Flash of Unstyled and Invisible Text
FOUT shows fallback text, FOIT shows nothing. Both are font loading side effects — here's what causes them and how to fix them.
Accessible Typography: The Complete Guide
Typography accessibility isn't just about contrast ratios — it's about font choice, sizing, spacing, and respecting user preferences.
WCAG Contrast Requirements for Typography
WCAG AA requires 4.5:1 contrast for normal text, 3:1 for large text. AAA requires 7:1. Here's how to test and fix your typography contrast.
Font Size Accessibility: Why You Should Never Use px for Font Sizes
Using px for font sizes breaks browser zoom for visually impaired users. Here's why rem is essential and how to implement it correctly.
Minimum Font Sizes and Touch Targets: Mobile Typography Accessibility
Mobile typography needs larger sizes, generous line-height, and touch-friendly link spacing. The accessibility requirements for mobile text.
Building a Type Scale for Your Design System
A well-defined type scale is the foundation of consistent design. Learn how to choose ratios, define steps, and implement across platforms.
How Top Design Systems Handle Typography
Analyze how Apple HIG, Material Design, IBM Carbon, Shopify Polaris, and others handle typography — font choices, scale systems, and guidelines.
Typography Testing and QA for Design Systems
How to test typography across browsers, devices, and screen sizes — truncation, overflow, multi-language, and visual regression testing.
Bauhaus and Modern Typography: Form Follows Function
The Bauhaus school didn't just change art — it transformed typography. How form-follows-function thinking led to the geometric sans-serifs we use today.
The Rise of Variable Fonts: A Brief History
Variable fonts went from specification to mainstream in just a few years. The story of how the industry united to create a new font format.
Garamond: The 500-Year-Old Font Still in Use Today
Claude Garamond designed his typeface around 1530. Nearly 500 years later, it remains one of the most widely used type designs. Here's why it endures.
Montserrat: History, Use Cases, and Pairings
Inspired by Buenos Aires street signs, Montserrat became a geometric sans-serif staple. Its history, strengths, and the best ways to use it.
Merriweather: The Screen Serif That Actually Works
Most serifs struggle on screens. Merriweather was built specifically for it. Why this screen-optimized serif is the best choice for readable body text.
JetBrains Mono: The Coder's Font of Choice
JetBrains Mono was designed by developers, for developers. A deep dive into the coding font that prioritizes readability with programming ligatures.
Oswald: The Condensed Display Font Workhorse
Oswald is the go-to condensed sans-serif on Google Fonts. Built for headlines that need to be bold, narrow, and unmissable.
Lato vs Open Sans: The Neutral Sans Battle
Both are neutral, readable, and endlessly popular. Lato vs Open Sans — the subtle differences that should drive your choice.
Roboto vs Open Sans: Google's Own Fonts Compared
Google commissioned both Roboto and Open Sans, and both are massively popular. But they serve different purposes — here's how to choose.
Montserrat vs Raleway: Which Geometric Sans?
Both started as display faces and evolved into full families. Montserrat vs Raleway — which geometric sans works better for your design?
Best Google Fonts for Websites in 2026
The definitive list of the best Google Fonts for websites in 2026 — top picks for body text, headings, and full pairings that just work.
Best Fonts for Email: Web-Safe and Fallback-Friendly
Email typography is still limited by client support. The best fonts for email — web-safe defaults, hosted font workarounds, and bulletproof fallback stacks.
Best Serif Fonts on Google Fonts (2026)
The best serif fonts available on Google Fonts — from screen-optimized body serifs to elegant display serifs, all free and open source.
Best Sans-Serif Fonts on Google Fonts (2026)
The best sans-serif fonts on Google Fonts in 2026 — from time-tested favorites to rising stars, ranked by use case and style.
Best Fonts for Mobile Apps in 2026
Mobile apps demand fonts that are readable at small sizes, load fast, and look crisp on high-density screens. The best choices for iOS and Android.
How to Import Google Fonts in CSS
The complete beginner's guide to adding Google Fonts to your website — using @import, link tags, and the Google Fonts API.
How to Add Custom Fonts to Tailwind CSS
Add Google Fonts or custom fonts to Tailwind CSS — extending the font-family theme, loading fonts efficiently, and best practices for Tailwind typography.
How to Use Variable Fonts in CSS
A practical guide to using variable fonts in CSS — loading, setting axes, animating properties, and browser support considerations.
How to Optimize Web Font Loading Speed
A practical checklist for making web fonts load faster — preloading, subsetting, font-display, and the modern best practices that actually work.
Typography for SaaS Products: A Complete Guide
SaaS products need typography that builds trust, ensures readability in dense UIs, and scales across platforms. A complete guide for SaaS typography.
Typography for Education and E-learning
E-learning typography affects comprehension and engagement. How to choose fonts that enhance learning for students of all ages and abilities.
Typography for Restaurant and Food Websites
Restaurant typography sets the mood before guests taste the food. How to choose fonts that match your culinary brand — from fine dining to fast casual.
Typography for Non-profit and NGO Websites
Non-profit typography must balance warmth, credibility, and accessibility on limited budgets. The best free fonts and strategies for cause-driven design.