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When we talk about the visual elements of a website, we are usually referring to images: photos, illustrations, icons, possibly the UI. What we tend to forget is that text is visual too. It is, after all, the visual representation of the spoken word. And text, just like images, can be beautiful or ugly, intriguing or dull, striking or bland, in appearance.
The majority of sites out there use purely functional text. In other words, even though the typography might be passable, and the text readable, it is there to be read; any visual interest is picked up by images. However, there are some, rather brave, designers who use type as content and visual interest, and have kept images to bare minimum, or even done away with them altogether. I say brave because it is a difficult approach to get ‘right’, as it pushes users out of their comfort zone and it can produce a very bold, stark look.
[pullquote]some, rather brave, designers use type as content and visual interest[/pullquote]
This approach is not simply a case of ditching the use of any images and filling the space up with lots of text. That would be visually off putting, really pretty boring, and definitely not user-friendly. For this style to work, less is definitely more with each text element being very carefully placed on the screen. The type tends to be display, often oversized, although some sites do use body type in the same way, to good effect. In fact, it could be argued that there are two distinct sub genres: large, display type with a more stylish feel and small body type with a very basic, bare bones feel.
Black on white or white on black is fairly standard, but in places color is used to add an extra dimension. In some of these sites, images appear on interaction, or a text animation is triggered to dramatic effect. With many of these examples, a screen shot cannot do them justice, they have to be experienced, and played with.
The obvious examples of text only sites are type collections, and while some might say that they shouldn’t count here I feel they are worth including if they present their content well and in a visually engaging way. (Not all font sites do.)
What stood out to me when putting together this collection is that the majority of sites embracing this approach tend to be for designers/design agencies, or others in creative fields (although there are some notable exceptions, like the NZ cleaners, or the Irish fish & chip shop). Perhaps this is because there is an urge to push the boundaries which usually has to be resisted when producing work for clients, whereas we don’t feel the need to play it safe when it’s about ourselves. The key here is creativity and confidence, it is a bold style that makes a very strong statement. There is no middle ground with this approach; when it misses it misses by a mile, but when it works it really works. Enjoy!
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Minnix
Jessica Strelioff
Elbow
Context
HTML arrows
Avery review
Edmundo
Graham Hicks
Emile Sadria
Wade Garret
Greater than or equal to
Dua
Jane Smith Agency
Triebwerk
Soulwire
Playground paris
Bronze
Design census
VSCO
TGW studio
b14
Durimel
Jason Briscoe
RSQ
Le top
Other
Aku
This is alcohol
East room
Alejandro Matamala
Megs tailoring
Stemme
Hej
Fictive kin
Geordie Wood
Oak
At your request
Camelot typefaces
Central St. Martins 2016 show
Yields
The Lobster movie
MaisonNue
Grano
Duezero
Second cousins studio
David Prati
Camp quiet
Maximillion McLaughlin
Valentino Borghesi
Arthur Collin
Agenzia indipendente diricerca
Justin Parra
Eugene Lee
Love and money
Maxine Tsang
San Francisco Coffee Finder
Bloomberg design conference 2016
Code united
Superset
Giorgio Favotto
Neobred
Grafik
Fish shop
Mediumextrabold
Design jobs board
Arc
ZZ
Pierre
Vincent Tavano
Hawraf
2016 promo
Danilo Campos
Hours after
Rebecca Lloyd Evans
R-typography
Eli Rousso
Plane site
Frere-Jones type
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