Graphic Design Help: Fonts
- Jenn Natsue
- Nov 5, 2018
- 2 min read
I could spend hours looking at fonts. Fonts can range from commanding to warm, serious to fun, and more, and really affect the mood and tone you set with your work. And combinations of fonts used together has influence over the holistic feel of your words. Pairing similar-looking fonts may be easy to read, but can also come across as boring. But juxtaposing two very different fonts can feel disjointed and chaotic.
I have a love affair with sans serifs (more modern-looking typefaces), but lately I've been feeling a lot of serif-sans serifs combos, or pairings of fonts that utilize both traditional with contemporary looks. If I'm working on an #AdobeInDesign or #AdobeIllustrator project, I'll look to a few sites to help me pick out a good pairing or two.
#Canva has a great general guide for what to look for in font pairing. They give visual examples of recommended pairings in the form of a sample graphic, along with what industry these fonts fit (fashion, graphic design, print, etc.). It's a great spot to start from if you want to learn about how fonts work.
#fontpair is an easy-t0-read listing of sample font combinations, ranging from sans-serif (title) / serif (body text) to monospace (title) / sans-serif (body text) and more. It gives a great overview of what to look for in pairings.
#typ.io is a great resource for quickly deciding on pairings that look great together. typ.io also provides visual samples and tags the fonts and purposes on the right side of the page. Already have one font in mind? Use their tool to find its mate.
#FontJoy uses deep learning to find font combinations that vary from high contrast to very similar in appearance, depending on your preference (play with the toggle at the top of the page). You can also use the buttons on the left to see a full list of how every character for a font appears.
I'll post more about the joys of fonts and graphic design in the future, but if you're looking to put your best font forward, this is a great place to start. #getyourfontinthedoor
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