For some reason, it seems as though typography today is limited to very basic fonts that all start with or end with the word “serif”. Granted, with the advent of mobile technologies and an ever-increasing demand for accessing the web on-the-go, a designer is compelled to make “readability” a top priority. We won’t argue with the fact that readability or legibility is a crucial element in design. However, creativity mustn’t be overlooked either.
The good news is that modern designers are paying more attention to typography than ever before. With cool and creative vector-based fonts taking the stage, it’s no more an obligation to go for overused fonts. If you still think otherwise, you should have a look at the following spectacular websites with beautiful typography for inspiration. Whoever said typography had to simple to be readable?
RideBarstow
The Barstow is an website for special goggles. The website is a highly unique one with interesting typography, unique buttons, animations, and so much more. There are three separate fonts that are consistent throughout the website—all of which are very unique ones.
Josh Kill
Not only does Josh use minimalistic and overly large typography that covers the whole page to make a statement, he lets that be the only thing on his page along with a few links to his website and social media accounts. The statement he makes is indeed a very loud one!
Crowley Webb
This New York based ad agency surely knowshow to “work hard” on a design. The typography used in the header attempts to resonate the meaning of “hard work” with tough-looking and rigid characters.
Pauline Osmont
Pauline Osmont is an art director and illustrator. Her blog is one of the most amazingly creative ones you can find. The typography used is not only beautiful and professional-looking, but also the kind that does not compromise readability. Pauline’s design was featured in Awwwards as the “the site of day”.
Jacksonville Art Walk
Apart from a simple serif font, the Jacksonville Art Walk website uses a creative chalkboard typography that immediately grabs attention. Highly artisict, the web designer used the font for heading and subheading only. Again, readability is in no way compromised here since large, all-caps fonts are used to not only catch the eye, but also intrigue the reader.
Poppies Flowers
Floral scents, weddings, and delicacy are all words that favor beautiful and simplistic fonts which are light on the eyes. The Poppies flower shop in Australia uses a blackboard-like background and light, realistic, handwritten print. The typography surely compliments flowers and other images of wedding photography, scents, and some vintage photographs.
Kingdom Coffee and Cycles
Kingdom Coffee and Cycles, is a shop for bicycle repair and parts. Yes, you can also find coffee here of all types. So, basically it specializes in “Bikes” and “Beans”. The website has an overall creative design and one that is consistent from page to page. The main types of typography are used, all of which are beautiful fonts that serve the purpose well.
Black in History
A Tumblr page pays tribute to “black history” by listing down the names of all the noteworthy individuals who contributed to and transformed black American history. The designer has also transformed conventional typography by using fast-moving animation (several pictures of famous African-American individuals) to make up the “color” of typography. The concept is very unique and one that challenges assumption of typography color—parallel to the theme of the page.
What is Your Future
This is a cool quiz that “determines your future” after you have answered ten questions. Once you’ve made your choices, you will get a paragraph worth of detail on your personality and what you could possibly achieve in future. If you thought the Star Wars typography was unique and futuristic, you should have a look at this one resembling alien-like writing.
Moon Camp
Moon Camp is a “base camp” tool to manage your clients. This is a beautiful design that will allow you to keep tabs on your “shuttle crew” as well as manage your work with to-do lists, image uploads, and comments. The Moon Camp design uses unique typography with shaded colors, imagery, and clever spacing to send across a “spacy” message. This is another design that was listed “the site of the day” on awwwards.
I Am Always Hungry
I Am Always Hungry is a creative studio that has developed a highly unique design for a website. To begin with, the website typography is not fully displayed—increasing curiosity within the reader—and fully readable after clicking and dragging the text on the page. Although IAAH typography is simplistic, the animation, effects, and concepts used to reveal it are indeed quite unique.