Typography and colour

Typography basics

• Serif (Georgia, Playfair): traditional, editorial, trustworthy. Sans-serif (Inter, Poppins, Montserrat): modern, clean, great on screens. Script/display: personality, only for short headlines.
• Pair fonts with contrast: one sans and one serif, or one family in different weights. Two typefaces are usually enough.
• Hierarchy through size and weight: headline, subhead, body, caption.
• Kerning (space between two letters), tracking (overall letter spacing; add a little to all-caps), leading (line spacing; about 1.4–1.6× for body text).
• Keep line lengths comfortable; avoid stretching or squashing type; check licences for commercial use (Google Fonts are free).
• For Indian audiences, choose fonts that support Devanagari or other scripts when designing bilingual content (Noto, Mukta, Hind).

Colour theory

• The colour wheel: complementary (opposites: high contrast), analogous (neighbours: harmonious), triadic (balanced and vibrant).
• Hue, saturation, value: value (lightness) contrast is what makes text readable.
• 60-30-10: 60% dominant, 30% secondary, 10% accent for calls to action.
• Colour psychology varies by culture: in India, red and gold signal celebration and marriage, saffron carries cultural meaning, green signals freshness or growth. Know your audience.
• Colour modes: RGB for screens; CMYK for print (bright RGB colours can look dull when printed); HEX codes for web; Pantone (spot colours) for exact brand colours in print.

Accessibility

Ensure text contrast is strong (aim for 4.5:1), don't put text over busy images without an overlay, and don't rely on colour alone to convey information.

Check yourself

• When would you use a serif font?
• Why might a design look different when printed?
• Build a palette using the 60-30-10 rule for a fintech brand.