Choosing Fonts & Colours for Your Website

Already Have Brand Colours or Fonts?

If you already use certain colours or fonts in your business, we can usually carry these through to your website.

Please share anything you have, such as:

• Your business logo.

• Brand guidelines, if you have them.

• Colour codes, if you know them.

• Fonts used in your existing branding.

• Business cards, brochures or other marketing materials.

If you're having your website redesigned, let me know whether you'd like to keep your existing colours and fonts or try something different.

Choosing Colours for Your Website

If you're starting from scratch, think about the sort of colours you're naturally drawn to.

Do you prefer soft, muted colours? Something bright and colourful? Or a fairly simple colour scheme with just one or two stronger colours?

You don't need to choose an entire colour palette.

If you have a favourite colour or a couple of colours you'd like to use, that's a good starting point.

Try Huemint for Colour Ideas

Huemint is a handy free tool that lets you experiment with different colour combinations.

You can generate colour schemes and see how they might look on a website.

If you find something you like:

• Take a screenshot.

• Save the colour codes, if available.

• Share your favourite combinations in your Design Brief.

You don't need to get everything exactly right. I'll check that the colours work together and that text remains easy to read.

Watch My Colour Walkthrough

I've also recorded a short walkthrough to show you how to explore colour combinations.

Watch the Colour Selection Walkthrough

It's there if you'd like a little help getting started.

Choosing Fonts for Your Website

Fonts can make quite a difference to how a website looks.

Some feel traditional, others are more modern or informal.

But there's something more important than choosing a font you like: people need to be able to read it comfortably.

For most websites, I recommend keeping things fairly simple.

Heading Fonts and Body Fonts

You might see two different types of font on a website:

• Heading fonts: Used for page titles and section headings. These can have a little more personality.

• Body fonts: Used for paragraphs and other longer pieces of text. These should be particularly easy to read.

You don't necessarily need two different fonts. Sometimes the same font works perfectly well for both.

I'll choose suitable sizes, weights and spacing when designing your website.

Browse Google Fonts

If you'd like to explore some options, have a look at Google Fonts.

It's free to browse, and you can type your own business name or some sample text to see how different fonts look.

If you spot one you like, just send me its name or a link.

There's no need to work out which fonts go together. I can take care of that.

Finding Inspiration From Other Websites

This is often the easiest way to show me what you like.

You might come across a website and think, "I really like the colours on this one" or "I love how simple this looks."

That's useful feedback.

If you find a few websites you like, send me the links and tell me what appeals to you.

It could be:

• The colours.

• The fonts.

• The amount of space around the text.

• The overall style.

• How the images are displayed.

You can also tell me what you don't like!

And don't worry if the websites belong to businesses in completely different industries. We're looking for ideas and preferences, not copying someone else's design.

What Should I Include in My Design Brief?

You don't need to make every design decision before your project begins.

If you have preferences, please share:

• Colours: Any existing brand colours or combinations you like.

• Fonts: Names or examples of fonts you prefer.

• Website examples: Links to two or three websites you like, with a brief explanation of why.

• Things to avoid: Colours, styles or fonts you particularly dislike.

• Existing branding: Your logo and any brand guidelines.

If you have no particular preferences, you can simply tell me that you're happy for me to make recommendations.

I'll use the information you've provided about your business, your customers and your website content to guide the design.