designtypography ·
Typography is a product decision
Why we treat type as a first-class feature, not a finishing touch — and the practical choices behind it.
Most teams pick a font, set a size, and move on. We’ve come to think of typography as one of the most consequential product decisions we make — because it’s the surface the user actually touches.
The decisions that matter
- Line length. We aim for roughly 60–75 characters. It’s the single biggest lever for comfortable reading.
- Line height. A little more air than you think. Dense text feels like work.
- Contrast. Especially in dark mode. Warm ivory on deep espresso reads better than pure white on pure black.
- A serif for reading, a sans for UI. The pairing does the work of telling you where you are.
What we measure
We don’t A/B test type the way we’d test a button colour. Instead we read. Long sessions, on real devices, with real articles. If our eyes tire, the type is wrong — no dashboard will tell us that.
Good typography is invisible. That’s the point.