Good typography does more for perceived quality than almost any other decision, and it costs a licence, not a photoshoot.
Show someone two versions of the same page, identical except for the type, and they will tell you one company is more expensive. They will not know why. That quiet judgement is the most valuable thing typography does.
One family, used well
Most brands need one typeface with a good range of weights, not three that compete. A single family with confident size contrast looks deliberate. Several families with similar sizes look like a committee.
Scale does the work
Hierarchy comes from contrast, and the most useful contrast is size. A very large headline beside small, quiet text creates more tension and more elegance than any decorative font ever will.
Sweat the small settings
Tighten large headlines. Open up small labels. Keep body lines between 60 and 75 characters. None of this is visible on its own, and all of it is felt. It is the difference between a page that looks finished and one that merely looks filled in.
Written by
Tom de Vries
Partner, Design
Runs identity and type. Believes a good system should still work in black and white at 16px.
