16 Examples of Large Typography in Web Design
Large typography is currently among the most popular trends in web design. The bigger the letters, the better. Extremely sized typefaces with large weight are dramatic, extravagant, attention-grabbing, and they undoubtedly carry a wow-factor that can attract and win over most visitors. They send assertive messages and convey them in a loud manner, whether you use them on their own or in combination with picturesque graphics.
When it comes to creating websites with oversized typefaces, designers usually avoid decorative fonts and instead go with neutral and simple scripts. They use them in headers, on buttons, in text – in fact, anywhere they want really, since there are no strict rules. Creativity knows no bounds, and these impressive examples of large typography in web design will introduce you to some fascinating things you can achieve with big letters:
Here are some demos from our Qi Theme for Elementor that also feature large typography in their design:
USSR Design Almanac is a sort of online exhibition created by Ukrainian design agency Obys. It celebrates some of the most famous products created in the Soviet Union. The almanac includes design examples of vehicles, buildings, airplanes, and loads of other things made from 1922 to 1991. The website is filled with interestingly animated imagery, but what stands out the most is the bold, attention-grabbing typography. It is loud, magnetic, and predominantly red. The letters beautifully complement the imagery and highlight the Soviet spirit of the website.
Thibaud Allie is an independent art director and digital designer based in Paris. He excels in web design, branding, and art direction, and some of his more notable clients include Virgil Abloh, Reebok, Nestlé, and others. As you scroll down this website, you’ll notice how at times typefaces take up the entire screen and are all you can see. The letters look sophisticated and very much in-your-face, but at no point do they feel like they’re too much. They don’t overpower the projects he showcased on his site. Au contraire, they accompany them wonderfully while demonstrating his willingness to experiment with large typography in web design.
Diego Funken’s urban-looking website is all about big typography. The second the homepage loads, you’re greeted with gigantic letters in all caps telling you the author’s story. He works as a motion designer and visual artist in New York City. As soon as you move your mouse across the page and over some words, his projects start to pop up, in video and photo formats both. The entire homepage looks very minimal, with a white background and black typography. There’s not much else going on, which allows Diego’s projects to stand out. The about page is also peppered with enormous white letters, while the background is dark. But when you hover over the part where it says @diegofunken, an image appears in the background and takes up the entire screen, while the letters change their color. The author has created a simple website but thanks to his clever use of typefaces and animation, he’s been able to highlight his work and show off his creative genius.
Mouthwash is a project made by a Los Angeles based studio of the same name. They describe it as offbeat, a word that suits the style and the vibe of the project just right. It’s adorned with beautiful imagery, exciting videos, and clear, plain typography to complete the modern look and the feel of the website. The Journal page is particularly interesting because it’s all in letters, but, as you hover over article titles, images show up and stay on the page until you hover back over them.
Van Holtz Co is a studio specializing in animated, responsive, and interactive content. The website looks impressive, it is very fun to browse, and it beautifully depicts the creativity of the people behind this studio. The homepage is in a lovely shade of purple, while massive, interactive, attractively-animated typography dominates the page. The projects that the studio has worked on are listed at the right-hand side of the screen, and as you move your mouse over the project’s name, the letters lose their fill and become outlined. Their product, about, and journal pages also feature amazing typographic solutions though the letters are not as large as they are on the homepage.
Jon Way Studio specializes in design and photography. The entire website is adorned with an animated grain texture effect, which makes it all look very movie-like. As you begin to scroll down the homepage, you’ll stumble upon bulky, colossal, animated letters that invite you to learn more about Jon’s designs and photography, read his journal, and more. On hover, the letters become strikethrough and change their color from black to light grey. Examples of his work are featured a bit further down the page, but once again, interesting-looking typography was enough to inspire us to stay on the website and make us want to learn more about Jon’s work.
Corentin Bernadou is a designer and a developer based in Bordeaux, and as he says, he’s a minimal design addict. His website is a true reflection of his taste and love for minimalism. He opted for plain, elegant, eye-catching typography with all the letters capitalized and has paired it with several brilliant examples from his portfolio. None of the elements overpowers the other. Letters and images form a powerful alliance that depicts Corentin’s style and skillset.
100 Days of Poetry looks like an online gallery featuring the works of Notty, a Japanese graphic designer. He’s created a piece a day for 100 days, and even though this terrific website is all about sharing Notty’s designs with the world, bold, all caps letters are the first thing you see. The screen appears to be divided into 5 rows, with 100 Days of Poetry written in each row multiple times. To discover Notty’s works, you can either scroll or drag the cursor horizontally, and the gallery will slowly unfold itself, moving from left to right. As you move your mouse, the letters and images move as well, as if placed on a conveyors belt.
Sam Phlix is a creative developer based in Lyon, France, and his website looks like a black and white empire of minimalism where large typography takes the throne. The striking contrast between the two colors accentuates the words which are delicately paired with some examples of Sam’s work. This website is a great example of how striking the combination of serif and sans-serif capitalized letters can be. What makes it look even more appealing is the use of different font sizes and weights, which add up to the site’s elegant appeal.
This astonishing project represents a digital showcase of the Pangram Pangram Foundry’s Editorial New typeface. It was created by Locomotive, a world-renowned web agency, with the purpose of showcasing this elegant font in action. The website is highly creative and each section is brimming with astounding elements that highlight different features of the typeface and allow you to modify and test them on your own. This whole project is dedicated to a font, but it’s so spectacularly executed, with lots of typography in motion, that it’s not surprising it was proclaimed Site of the Month of October at Awwwards.
Safari Riot:Noise is a sound design and music group that focuses on producing creative content for brands and production companies. Their website is really loud, and there’s a lot going on. Vivid colors, striking animations, and video backgrounds take up the screen, but still, text trails and typography capture visitor’s attention from the get-go. The letters are multi-colored, and as you hover your cursor over them, they become bigger, and their color and font change. If you keep still and move your mouse away from the project names, the website will lose its color – it’ll turn to white while the letters will lose their fill and become outlined.
À Gauche de la Lune is a booking agency from Lille, France. The homepage of their website is all about typefaces. The screen appears to be divided into two parts that move on scroll in opposite directions. Bold, massive letters are at the left-hand side of the screen, while the list of featured artists is written using a clear, outlined font. The only colors on the page are black and white with just a splash of red, while the colorful imagery appears once you move your mouse over an artist’s name. Artist pages are adorned with some extra elements, such as videos and images, but they’re also typeface-rich, with large typography used on each page.
BASIC Moves is an agency based in San Diego, California. Their website provides “an experience that blurs the line between documentary, editorial, and digital”, as they say themselves. Letters range from bold, massive, and all caps, to smaller, thin, or outlined typefaces. On some pages, the background color changes from dark grey to white. The letters follow suit and their hue switches accordingly. Even though this site is bursting with all kinds of audio and visual elements, the typography is very prominent and plays an important role in creating the agency’s distinct visual identity that’s been recognized and awarded multiple times in 2019.
Angela Milosevic is a digital designer and a big name in the world of web design. On her monochrome website, she combines large, serif, all capitalized letters with italic, lowercase typefaces, sometimes combining two different effects in one word. The lower-case words are particularly interesting. As you hover over some of them, the works from Angela’s terrific portfolio appear. Other lower-case words are clickable and will take you to the websites of the companies she’s worked for. The website looks demure, but she still managed to make it highly creative, playing with several typeface styles and combining them with peculiar imagery and interesting animation effects.
Florian Monfrini is a French painter based in Paris. His website was created with the purpose of announcing his exhibition in Mexico City. Large typography and striking images dominate the page. In some sections, the letters and numbers get so big and are splashed over the entire screen. They’re black, bold, elegant, in all caps, and in a wonderful juxtaposition with the colorful pictures. However, images and letters don’t overpower each other, but rather form an inviting amalgam that makes us want to dive right into Florian’s next exhibition.
The Design in Motion Festival has a website with a playful character that’s in tune with what this festival is about, which is celebrating motion works by creatives from all over the world. The first thing you see are gigantic, variable letters spelling out the word DEMO. These letters distort and change their shape as you move your mouse cursor around the screen. But no matter which way you move the cursor, the word DEMO is legible at all times, regardless of the degree of distortion. The fusion of animated letters and the background that changes its color from strong, fiery orange to dark blue creates a unique identity and vibe for this festival’s website.
Final Words
Large typography is omnipresent in web design. As some of these examples demonstrate, your entire website can revolve around typography without ever looking dull. The possibilities of what you can achieve using letters only, and the ways you can manipulate them using modern technologies are virtually endless. With the right typeface combination, a clever use of font height, weight, color, and some thrilling animation effects added to the mix, you can create a captivating realm of typography that will mesmerize website visitors while illustrating your creative genius.
