Craft & Detail · 7 min read

10 Common Typography Mistakes Designers Make (and How to Fix Them)

By HSINI Updated 2026-10-10

Fix bad line lengths, faux bold, improper apostrophes, low contrast, and unadjusted line heights.

Mistake 1: Relying on Browser Faux-Bold and Faux-Italics

If you set `font-weight: 700` in CSS without loading the actual Bold font file, the browser artificially smears the glyph outlines, degrading stroke contrast and geometric balance. Always load genuine weight variants.

Mistake 2: Line Lengths That Are Too Long or Too Short

Spanning text across the full width of a 1920px screen makes readers lose their place when scanning from the end of one line to the start of the next. Use `max-width: 65ch` on article paragraphs.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the fastest way to improve a design's typography?

Increase contrast between headings and body text, limit yourself to two typefaces, tighten heading line-height, and establish a comfortable 65-character reading width.