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Principles of Typographical Craft
The three fundamental aspects of typography are legibility, readability, and aesthetics. Though in a non-technical sense "legible" and "readable" are often used synonymously, typographically they are separate but related concepts. While the aesthetics of typography are at its best when legibility and readability are not negatively affected, this has been historical context and the designer's intent.

Legibility
Legibility describes the ability to distinguish individual letters from each other and the characteristics inherent to the design of a typeface including its x-height, character shapes, width, stroke thickness and color on the page. Very legible typefaces tend to have large x-heights, large counters and simple letterforms with clearly defined shapes. Letterforms are generally composed of a combination of vertical, horizontal, diagonal or curved strokes although this can vary depending on use and aesthetics. Display and text typefaces also have different criteria for legibility due to being read in different conditions.

Legibility is also affected by the familiarity of the reader to the typeface. For example, Fraktur was once widely used in the German-speaking world and areas under German influence in 16th century and later however, Legros and Grant have found that modern readers find it very illegible.

Readability
Readability is the ease with which a reader can comprehend a written text. While legibility depends on the design of the typeface, readability depends on how the designer has chosen to use it. Readability can be affected by the chosen typeface, leading, kerning, white space around the text block and line-length. Readability research has been published since the late nineteenth century. Early studies in readability focused on reading speed and comprehension as a metric for good typography. However, different studies looking at serifs, boldness, and typeface selection have produced no strong evidence for their effect on reading speed and comprehension. Other topics such as justified type, use of hyphens, and proper typefaces for people with reading difficulties such as dyslexia need further research.

New research has moved away from reading speed and comprehension as the sole metrics for judging typography. Kevin Larson and other researchers at the Microsoft Advanced Reading Technologies Lab has found evidence to show that good typography can increase performance on creative tasks and lead to reduced activation of the muscle associated with frowning.

The Readability of Print Unit at the Royal College of Art under Professor Herbert Spencer with Brian Coe and Linda Reynolds revealed the importance of saccadic rhythm of eye movement for readability. They found that the eye recognizes the meaning of about three words at once and tires if the line required more than 3 or 4 of these saccadic jumps. More than this is found to introduce strain and errors in reading (e.g. Doubling).

Aesthetics
The aesthetics of typography should reinforce the meaning, mood or style of the text. The mood of the text can be made visible through appropriate typeface selection and typesetting. This can be done by understanding the usage of the text but also the historical context of the typeface.

The needs of a text also depend on the context. Typography can range from the classical in novels to the experimental in art books, photobooks or exhibition catalogues. Periodical publications, especially newspapers and magazines, use typographical elements to achieve an attractive, distinctive appearance and to guide readers through various sections. Periodicals commonly have a style guide, with a small collection of typefaces along with the consistent application of typefaces, case, type sizes, italic, boldface, colors, and other typographic features such as combining large and small capital letters together. Some publications, such as The Guardian and The Economist, go so far as to commission a type designer to create custom typefaces for their exclusive use.

In some cases, legibility and readability go against the meaning or mood of the text. This can be seen in grunge typography and in Ray Gun magazine designed by David Carson.