Some sim­ple rules to fol­low for improved typog­ra­phy (web or print), from Fred Design:

  • Don’t use too many type­faces (not more than 3).
  • Pay close atten­tion to the hierarchy.
  • No more than 4 font sizes, prefer­ably 3.
  • 8-10pt for body copy (def­i­nitely not above 12pt).
  • Use sim­ple, leg­i­ble typefaces.
  • Keep lead­ing in mind (a lit­tle above the font size, slightly below the auto set­ting, no overlapping).
  • Keep kern­ing in mind (no overlapping).
  • Empha­sise sub­tly (bold, italic, under­lined or a darker shade).
  • No caps in body text.
  • Always align to a base­line.
  • Flush left, ragged right (keep text left aligned, not justified).
  • Between 6 and 12 words per line (as a gen­eral, flex­i­ble rule).
  • Hang­ing punc­tu­a­tion marks and bul­lets, not indented.
  • Exper­i­men­tal: use Fibonacci num­bers for point sizes.

Sim­i­lar and worth­while: Mark Boulton’s Five sim­ple steps to bet­ter typog­ra­phy.

Don’t for­get these ebooks, either!