Typophile

Need some help/feedback with font choice for my website

ZeHgS

Hi guys!

I am a professional translator and am making myself a website mostly for fun. I don't really expect to make any money off it, but I want to use it pretty much as an addendum to my curriculum and cover letter. I know the design is very bad and amateurish, but I would like to take it as far as it can and try to improve it a bit. Could you please check out the fonts I chose and give me some tips?

http://jg-translations.com/improved.png

The fonts I used are:
Open Sans for the logo, language options, welcome text on the left, link descriptions on the bottom part
Verdana for Services and next/previous buttons
Helvetica for text inside the white box on the right and for the About, FAQ and Contact headers/links on the bottom

I don't mean to offend anyone if it's inappropriate to ask for advice without some form of compensation. Please just ignore this thread and don't take it personally. I certainly don't want to cause an argument and apologize in advance!

Bonus question: Sorry to abuse you guys, but globe or no globe on the logo? http://jg-translations.com/

Riccardo Sartori

Some general tips.
- No globe in its current form: it conveys the message, but it’s way too clip-art-looking.
- For a simple design like this, two typefaces (or even a single typeface in two weights) are more than enough. But you may want to differentiate the logo from the rest.
- For a friendlier and more “bookish” feel, you could also try a serif typeface.

ZeHgS

Thanks so much for your reply!

I replaced Helvetica with Verdana, what do you think?

Old version:
http://jg-translations.com/improved.png
New version
http://jg-translations.com/improved_2.png

I'm gonna play around with the logo. Do you recommend serif or sans-serif?

ps.: also changed the globe slightly. Do you think it's enough or would you find another one?

Joshua Langman

One positive: your home page is not too busy. It's clear what you do and how to use the site. That's a great start.

On version 1: Nix the arrow graphic and use a real word (English to Portuguese) or punctuation (English / Portuguese). If you really want the arrow, use a typographic arrow, preferably one from the same font as the surrounding text. But any arrow will work if it more or less matches the text.

On version 2: You should definitely still say what languages you translate somewhere prominent.

"File(s)" is unnecessarily fussy. Just say file.

Why "Translations" and not "Translation" in the header?

"Services" is more prominent than it deserves.

Definitely try a serifed font. And try muting the colors. Pick only two colors and see what happens. Your design feels very commercial; you might want to try for something more literary.

ZeHgS

Thanks so much! Excellent points, I will incorporate them! And "translations" was just a misspelling, it had already been fixed before I read this

ZeHgS

I made some major changes, check it out:

http://jg-translations.com/version_1.png

http://jg-translations.com/version_2.png

I'm still going to play around with colors a lot after everything else is ready and see what I come up with!

johncarlson

It is too much important to design the website with best and good contents. For this reason, you need to choice the best font so that it looks nice and attractive. If you want to make any Responsive WordPress Design, WordPress Website Design, WordPress Development , of course , you need to contact with any website development company.

ZeHgS

I think it's steadily improving:

http://jg-translations.com/lets%20see.png

What do you guys think? It's far from done yet, I'm still gonna add a few things and improve what's already there (such as the pen and post it notes)

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