What is best font to use?

[IeMS]

Sadly my site was not designed with Xara, however I do have several graphic elements made with Xara in the site, including H1 text page headers using the Ariel Black font. For a clean corporate modern look and to get away from the "dated look", is this the best font to use or is there another that would work a bit better? Ariel is the font I am currently using in the body so I wanted to use something that is different but goes well. Please advise. If I may, the site address is www.IeMS.co. If I wasn't suppose to add the url, my apologies in advance. Thank you for your time.

Rob

[Big Frank]

Take a look at some professionally designed websites out there and compare them to your site and ask yourself "is changing a font going to make a difference?"

[Gare]

Hi Rob—

To paraphrase Big Frank's remark, the website will not achieve a "clean corporate modern look" simply by swapping in a new typeface.

The truth is that a well-designed website can use several different typefaces; a font is subordinate to the overall design—although some consideration is good, the typeface(s) are a cog in the overall machine. They can work harmoniously or detract from the design.

I'd suggest that your first stop might be for a C&C at Xara Web Design Chat here at TalkGraphics, even though you didn't use Xara Web Designer to build your site. They can give you some artistic pointers.

I think you need to start with color. The site is predominantly white with dark blue and dark green. You need complementary colors to accent any talking points on the site. The design also breaks the overall message into above and below the fold, even though I'm running 1280 by 1024. You cannot let information fall "beneath the fold" on your top page, so you should prioritize what the most important messages are. Also consider how your site will play on mobile devices.

You sell web design services, so your "calling card" is your website, Rob. And you have about 3 seconds to win or lose a new visitor, if that much.

Take care of the larger issues and the right typeface wil either become obvious after a rework, or ask for suggestions right here once you've refined your site.
My Best,

Gary

[IeMS]

Gary,

Thank you for the reply. Are you saying that the slideshow at the top of the page does not do enough to "sell the sizzle"? I was hoping the graphic design on the slideshow would be enough to get them to scroll down to read the sales pitch but if I need new pictures, or a different message as text over the pictures, I can do that. Any ideas on where to start considering the target market would be the new small business owner with a small budget in terms of time, knowledge, and / or money? In scrolling through pics on fotolia, I don't see anything that speaks to me. Was thinking of simply changing the text on the main pic. Thoughts?

[Gare]

My first thought is to move this discussion, Rob: you're not going to get the help you really need on the Typography area.

My additional thoughts are: you sell the steak, not the sizzle. I'm serious—in advertising, "dancing baloney"—an effect for the sake of an effect, is a last-ditch effort, when you're creatively plumbed out. "When you got nothing to say, you sing it." But I think you have something to say.

I'd recommend an overhaul, Rob; walk away from what you've done and come back to the site with a fresh perspective. There's nothing to "patch" to turn the site around. A new picture, a different message with text ain't going to solve the reality that by the design of your top page, you're inviting customers to ignore you.

Ask yourself, as a potential client, what would arrest your attention and sustain it.

I'm going to move this discussion to the Web Design Chat area. I think you'll get the help you need if you post C&C (comments and Criticism Welcome) there.

My Best,

Gary

[IeMS]

Lots of suggestions. Some I'll take, others I'll have to chew on. I am wondering if I simply need a new logo, with a new color scheme (even though I like the blue & green) as a better example of "integrated marketing", and I'll have to simply rebrand and based the redesign of the website off of that. I have found a couple of pictures that perhaps could be used as a base. What would you charge for such a project? Feel free to email privately (via my website) if its ok.

[Gare]

Hi Rob—

You open yourself up to a lot of responses when you solicit help/work on a public forum! :)

I'll assume that much of your post is directed at me, personally. Okay: It's good that you're thinking of working from the general to the specific—I believe that's the way designers should work, with a rough-out of a graphical idea and then honing in on the details.

I think you need to begin with a concept. A "core" from which the other graphical and text ideas spring. I suggest that you forget about nit-picking and correcting the nits. There's nothing absolutely wrong with blue and green, except they suggest ecology...and as I mentioned, they don't artistically accent one another. there's nothing wrong with the puzzle pieces, but they look as though they were just thrown into the overall site as an attraction. There's nothing really I see immediately that supports the jigsaw pieces. Plus, puzzle pieces have been done to death, Rob. They've become a visual cliché in 2012, and probably 1995.

You need fewer talking points up front because it's visually intimidating for anyone to digest. You need balance: you need to prioritize what you want to communicate, and let other items be subordinate. You're in a tough field, very competitive, and you need to show and prove to me that your company is on the top of the heap by demonstrating it with your own website, you know?

And that CSS scooter stuff on the menu is quite disorienting! There should be a reason for an effect on a web page. If there isn't, you leave the impression that you're not serious and want to attract attention any way you can, instead of focusing on what you are and what you do, in a compelling, artistic way.

My best,

Gary

[mwenz]

Sadly my site was not designed with Xara, however I do have several graphic elements made with Xara in the site, including H1 text page headers using the Ariel Black font. For a clean corporate modern look and to get away from the "dated look", is this the best font to use or is there another that would work a bit better? Ariel is the font I am currently using in the body so I wanted to use something that is different but goes well. Please advise. If I may, the site address is www.IeMS.co. If I wasn't suppose to add the url, my apologies in advance. Thank you for your time.

Rob

"Dated look" isn't tied to the font(s) in use. I think that is the gist of the responses.

I would suggest looking around the web at sites that offer your services. What looks best to your eye about them? What doesn't? Integrate your spin on what does look best, avoid what doesn't.

"Clean corporate modern look" goes beyond what first hits the eye. It is also going to extend to usability--and likely isn't going to have menus that bounce around when one hovers over them. Likely you may find calmer color schemes (less jarring than bright blues and greens) contrasted against the header's use of a gray-black gradient, etc.

Take care, Mike

[IeMS]

Gary, The can of worms opened and are swarming the moment I asked for an opinion from my peers. Unfortunately my peers are not my target market but I understand that if I cannot impres you guys, how can I be extected to get the attention of my customer - the small business owner, so I respect and am doing all that I can to make sense of it. What I've tried to do is exactly as you said - start with a theme that represents the message "integrated", choose colors that represent who I am and what I try to do - trustworthy, loyal, and wanting to help a small business grow, and design a usable unique site around that. I missed the mark somewhere as the site is not from a template. Again, I am wondering if I need a new logo, a symbol of "integrated emarketing" as the image?

[IeMS]

Still working on the design. About the change the background slightly but keep the same layout. Until then, I simply need advise on the best font that goes with Tenor Sans. I am currently using Tenor Sans as my only font. I like it as a header but not so much as a body text despite Google claiming its legibility as a body text. Any suggestions on a modern body text that successfully compliments Tenor Sans? This font should be legible in all browsers. Thank you in advance. (Open Sans cannot be an option unfortunately). Thoughts on Droid Sans / Gill Sans / PT Sans / Lucinda Sans / Other?