Font size matters — why you should design with a larger font
All fonts aside, designing with a larger size makes a difference.
Flashback to the 1990s-era of the Internet and you might recall websites featuring fonts between 9-13px. At the time, most of us were using the default 12pt font on our computers, so it became standard practice to follow suit online.
So, what happened? Twenty years later, the Internet exploded and competition for our attention became much more intense. The flip phone transitioned into the smartphone, allowing us to consume information in the palms of our hands. Over the years, web designers began to adopt larger font sizes, since the bigger text is easier to read on a smaller screen.
Here’s why you should implement a design with a larger font on your site.
Shorter attention spans demand larger fonts
No surprise here - in the digital age, we’re all distracted and we’re all busy, pretty much all of the time. Emails, text messages, ads, and pop-up forms help keep us connected, but also divert attention. Maximize the time your visitor spends on the page by keeping content easy to scan and digest, with a larger font.
A site that encourages visitors to continue scrolling is achieved with strategic website design and engaging copy. In fact, it’s been proven that when fonts are bigger, we’re able to read faster.
Readability is a real thing
While a 12pt font size might technically be legible, it’s not always considered readable. Legibility means that text can be understood, whereas readability takes factors like emotions and ease of reading into play. These days, the baseline for most fonts is usually around 16–20px.
When your font is too small, your visitors are unlikely to spend time reading text that appears difficult to read. Reading should be effortless, painless, and easy, like a walk in the park. A lot of copy clustered together in an itty bitty font is a red flag. Site visitors will take one step in and quickly get scared off by a page full of daunting paragraphs of tiny text.
Headlines get an upgrade
Go big and run wild with your headlines. Having some weight on the page can rarely appear clunky, rather, larger font sizes can help page hierarchy and stimulate powerful emotions even more effectively too. Designing headlines larger also contributes to how a viewer perceives what’s to come on the page, and if they should invest more time reading.
With larger headlines, you’re able to emphasize your message even further. The visual impact on the page brings an element of confidence and conviction, keeping your reader hungry for more.
Conclusion
If you’re hung up on your font size, it might be time to let a pro take the weight off your shoulders. Let the design team at Studio Rubric help you level up your font game.