Five Secrets to Finding Your Best Typeface
Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash
Unless your brand messaging is going to consist entirely of pictures — or interpretative dance — you’re going to need to incorporate some words and letters into your designs. And for that, you need to know how to choose a kickass typeface. A typeface, by the way, is a little different than a font, though the words are pretty much used interchangeably these days. If you’re a design nerd like me, this article distinguishing the two might be up your alley. Read it after you finish this, okay? We have some things to chat about when it comes to finding the best typeface for you.
1. Don’t let Word do the designing for you
So you open Word, go to the typeface menu, and choose from there. Sound familiar? You’re not alone. The problem is Word doesn’t really offer you many good typeface options. Best case scenario, your choice looks OK but it doesn’t stand out because everyone else relying on that limited selection is probably choosing something similar.
Worst case scenario, you use Comic Sans or Papyrus, which will just get you smack-talked about in the proverbial cafeteria by the design Mean Girls (not me, I’m nice as they come, but please, please don’t use Comic Sans).
Don’t limit yourself to what comes preloaded on your computer. Google Fonts and Font Squirrel are two examples of websites that allow you to easily download a new typeface to install and use on your computer. Or just cut out Word altogether and use Google Fonts with Google Docs. There are also plenty of options available from design tools like Canva (free membership!) or Adobe Creative Cloud (membership, but not free).
2. Your text doesn’t have to shout, sing, or dance to be interesting
Don’t make your typeface do too much work, okay? I’ve seen folks mixing three or more typefaces in a small space to try to make things exciting, or letters made into different shapes to try and represent a business or mission (seriously, if I see one more yoga studio make an M out of a couple of bodies in downward-facing dog…). But can I really honest with you? When you throw the whole visual kitchen sink at your audience to try to grab our attention, it looks… desperate. And desperate isn’t a good look for anyone.
example of a Bus Shelter Ad with too many typefaces that is overwhelming and confusing
example of a Bus Shelter Ad which uses less typefaces that is more inviting and focused
An overwhelming, overbusy design can be very off-putting. It can repel your audience’s attention rather than attract it. Think about how many different designs you see in a given day — signs, slogans, posters, ads... Using a simpler typeface design focused on creating a mood or vibe gives your viewer room to mentally breathe and pulls them towards what you have to offer.
3. A typeface with a lot of different weights is a superpower
Repeatedly gaining and losing weight — bad for humans, good for typefaces. When I am starting a project or building a brand, I look for a font that has as many different weights as possible to maximize my flexibility. The bare minimum (regular, italic, bold, bold italic) just doesn’t cut it. I want lots of options for weight to create contrast between different pieces of text to help the information stand out in different ways. A lightweight heading with a semi-bold subheading? Sublime! The more options, the more fine-tuning you can do to have a polished look where all the text has a clear and purposeful style. One of my all-time favorite typefaces is Verb, which boasts a whopping 72 font variations!
4. Look out for special features
Special features can really elevate a typeface. But what are they? Special features, also referred to as opentype features, can include letters designed specifically for small caps (as opposed to a sized-down version of a regular caps letter) or alternative ligatures which provide a combined version of letters that traditionally appear awkwardly close when next to each other (the fi ligature is a popular example). The contextual alternate character feature is especially helpful when using calligraphy and hand-lettered typefaces. For these, text will look more obviously computer-made if all the repeating letters look exactly the same as one another — real handdrawn letters would be more imperfect. The best handmade typefaces offer alternate versions of different letters so you can swap in varied versions of a repeat letter to make the text look more natural. A font I enjoy is Palm Canyon Drive because it has those alternate characters as well as stylized versions of “and” or “the” that match the typeface beautifully.
5. Remember that all type has history
Especially when creating a brand, I advise you to look beyond the aesthetic of a typeface and delve into its history to learn how it may relate to your business or nonprofit’s personality. At a high level, you have serif and sans-serif fonts (named for their use or non-use of serif embellishments on the strokes of the letters). Serifs are older, going back as far as Roman stone carvings — they communicate more of an established authority when used in a design. Sans-serif fonts were created as early as 1805 — they are used to represent a more modern, forward-focused tone.
The Vogue logo which uses the serif font Didot
The LinkedIn logo which uses the serif font Myriad
There are even typefaces with really specific roots that can add additional meaning to your visuals. For example, Bore is a bold, industrial typeface inspired by lettering on the entryway signage for the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel. If you want to connect your brand to Baltimore or to the idea of transportation and thruways, this could be an interesting choice. Or if your brand stands for racial justice and equality, look at Martin, a typeface inspired by protest signs at the Memphis Sanitation Strike of 1968.
Your typeface says a lot about your brand, your personality. So put some thought into it. Do your research. Explore your options beyond what’s handed to you by your computer software manufacturer. And for the love of God, please stay away from Zapfino.
CHANGE MAKER OF THE MONTH
For this month’s change maker of the month, I’m spotlighting and donating to the The Partnership for Inclusive Disaster Strategies (The Partnership), the only U.S. disability-led organization with a focused mission on equal access, disability rights and full inclusion of people with disabilities, older adults, and people with access and functional needs before, during, and after disasters and emergencies. In light of the effects of Hurricane Ira in the U.S., their work is especially important right now