For many of us, typography is an afterthought. We’re more concerned with graphics, colors, and textures. Once those are in place, we’re content to spin the Wheel of Fonts and go with whatever it lands on, so we can move on to the next thing; however, when we think this way, we dangerously underestimate the importance of type in visual communication. Jason Beaird, author of The Principles of Beautiful Web Design, says type “is the substance of branding” and “the key to unspoken communication.” Typography can serve as visual tone of voice, which we all know is important because all our mothers told us, “It’s not just what you say but how you say it.” Selecting the appropriate tone—the appropriate type—for whatever it is you want to say in your logo, on your website, in a video, or on a postcard is an essential job. Here are a few simple principles to help you make wise typography decisions.
The right font beats the free font every time.
It’s awfully tempting to visit free font websites such as dafont.com and load up on complimentary typefaces, but that creates two problems. First, many of those fonts are free for a reason (no one would buy them, they imitate a pricey font, they are incomplete, etc.). Second, you prejudice yourself against paying for professionally designed fonts. The fact is, sometimes the right font or font family for the job comes with a hefty price tag, but it’s worth it when you’re branding your church or organization.
Less fonts per page, please.
You’re designing a promotional piece for an upcoming event, but you can’t figure out why it’s making you dizzy. Maybe you’re dizzy because your design involves one font in your logo, another font in your tagline, a font for the event headline, a different font for the subhead, a fifth font for the body text, and one more font for the important note at the bottom. That’s six fonts on one page, which is enough to make the cast of The Deadliest Catch seasick. Yes, skilled designers can pull it off, but they are likely to make careful and complementary choices. If you don’t think you can do that, keep your fonts-per-page count low.
Retire Rosewood until further notice (unless you’re opening a saloon).
Sure, Rosewood has a cool, vintage, Western vibe. A few years ago it caught on like wildfire and could seemingly be found everywhere promoting everything. Rosewood became symbolic of fonts that become so trendy and overused that many designers abandoned it altogether to avoid association with Rosewood’s “tired” status. (Note: It’s not Rosewood’s fault; when a font achieves that kind of ubiquity, it simply loses its impact.) If you notice a certain font beginning to appear frequently, think twice before jumping on the bandwagon.
If font is unreadable, consider it unusable.
Communication is the goal, right? Falling in love with an overly grungy or flourish-y font might help you achieve your desired aesthetic, but you ultimately fail at your job if no one can read the song lyrics, event details, or ministry name you’ve been asked to communicate. If viewers squint, look confused, and then ask their neighbor what the text says, it’s time to try again.
Less is more (except when it’s less).
This overlaps a bit with our second and fourth principle, but that’s OK. When trying out fonts, ask yourself if you’re trying to do too much. Are you hoping to find an elaborate, magical font that will rescue the piece you’re working on from being bland? Are you trying to impress everyone with a flashy typeface? Look for opportunities to simplify your font choices when possible. Of course, don’t take this principle too far by using Arial exclusively; you don’t want your work to feel barren or under-designed.
Learn from the best.
In your everyday life, take a few moments to notice the typography choices you see in print advertisements, on commercial signage, on clothing, and on TV. Make note of what works, what doesn’t, and why. Go deeper by grabbing authoritative books on typography such as Fonts & Logos by Doyald Young, The Elements of Typographic Style by Robert Bringhurst, and Stop Stealing Sheep & find out how type works by Erik Spiekermann & E.M. Ginger. Odds are you’ll learn more than you ever wanted to about fonts, but there’s no doubt that your work will be better for it.
Don’t neglect proportion and spacing.
The right typeface choice or choices can be easily undermined by a lack of proportion and spacing. For our purposes, proportion is simply the relationship between the various typographic elements on a page and the respective importance of those elements. Overall spacing is simply the combination of the space between the letters (kerning), words (word space), and lines (leading) on a page. As the aforementioned Bringhurst writes, “However empty or full it must be, the page must breathe.” Spacing and proportion help establish a healthy breathing rhythm for the reader. In design, as in life, suffocation is generally frowned upon.
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Knowing your type groups will save you time.
Although there are several classification systems by which fonts are grouped, each is based on the common characteristics of the grouped fonts. Being aware of the font characteristics that will work well in the context of an overall design piece can help you eliminate whole groups of fonts immediately. For instance, if you know that your type is going to accompany modern artwork, don’t waste time digging through your Oldstyle or Blackletter fonts. If you are in search of a typeface for body text, all groups except serif and sans-serif are probably out the window (and especially all scripts and display fonts). The ability to quickly narrow down your font search from your entire library to a specific group is guaranteed to come in handy often.
That’s our quick (and by no means comprehensive) list of typography principles—may it guide you to much font success. As for those clip art packs you’re using, we’ll have to tackle those another day.