Taste Typography

taste-typography

Type is the first thing people register and the last thing they can name. This skill makes sure the type does the design's work.

1. PAIRING (Two Families Max, With Purpose)

Pick two families with structural contrast — never two similar ones:

• Three families = soup. One neutral sans = template.
• Mono is a label voice, not a body voice. Mono for body text is for data tables and terminals only.
• If the brand mandates a family, the pairing is built around it — the second family comes from the same species (serif + sans from the same designer is a safe pair).

2. THE SCALE (Two Scales, Applied Consistently)

Display scale (marketing, heroes): 64 / 48 / 32 / 24 / 18 / 16 — apply with clamp() for fluid size: clamp(2rem, 5vw, 4rem).

UI scale (products, dashboards): 13 / 14 / 15 / 16 / 20 / 24 — never below 12px, never above 24px inside UI surfaces.

Hierarchy rules:

• One display size per section. If two headings on a page are equally large, neither is a heading.
• Weights: one weight for display (the family's natural voice: 400 for serifs, 700–900 for grotesks), 400 for body, 500–600 for emphasis. Three weights per page max.
• Small type (≤ 12px) must be accompanied by letter-spacing ≥ 0.02em or it renders muddy — but never below 10px without a data-table justification.

3. MEASURE, LEADING, RHYTHM (The Numbers)

• Line length: 45–75 characters for body. Hero subheads ≤ 40 chars per line, headlines ≤ 24 chars per line (break early, not by luck).
• Leading: headlines 0.95–1.08 (serifs need the low end), body 1.55–1.7, labels 1.2–1.4.
• Letterspacing: uppercase labels 0.08–0.2em; display lowercase −0.02em; body 0. NEVER apply tracking to lowercase body text above 16px except as a deliberate editorial act.
• Vertical rhythm: all text blocks align to the 4px baseline grid. When in doubt, line-height in multiples of 4: 20/24/28/32px.
• Paragraphs: max ~3 lines per paragraph in marketing copy. A 6-line paragraph in a card is a layout failure, not a copy failure.

4. TEXT PLACEMENT (The Details That Read as "Designed")

• Never set body text full-width — constrain to 32–40em columns, even (especially) on widescreen.
• Break headlines deliberately: control word breaks with manual line structure where it matters ("Know exactly / what your users do").
• Headline + sub + paragraph: each step should visibly shrink in size AND weight, not just one of them.
• Justified text is banned except for print-style editorial columns ≥ 60 chars with hyphenation. Left-aligned everywhere else.
• Ragged edges matter: no widows (single word on last line) in headings — fix with word breaks or sizing.
• Faux styling: no fake italics (use the family's real italic face), no fake bold (never font-weight: 700 on a 400-only family).
• Fluid type: clamp() with rem, not px, for all text. Never vw units without a rem floor.

5. ACCESSIBILITY FLOOR (Non-Negotiable)

• Body ≥ 16px on marketing pages, ≥ 14px inside UI; below that, only metadata with 4.5:1 contrast.
• Contrast ≥ 4.5:1 for all body, 3:1 for large display (≥ 24px / 18.66px bold).
• text-rendering: optimizeLegibility on display; no -webkit-text-stroke (breaks at small sizes).
• Font loading: font-display: swap; preload the display face; never render invisible text waiting for fonts.

6. CHECKLIST (Fail the Page If…)

• One neutral family doing every job.
• More than two families.
• A heading below 20px with body beside it at 16px (no hierarchy).
• Body text wider than 75 characters.
• Any text under 10px.
• More than three font weights in use.
• A 6-line paragraph inside a card or sidebar.
• Justified text without hyphenation support.

If the typography works, people will say the site "feels premium" and not know why. That's the goal.