Words are important to us. After all, they’re how we communicate. Over time, as humanity has gotten better at expressing ourselves through what words say, we’ve also developed way to make our words look nice, both on paper and the computer screen.

Types of Fonts

Fonts come in all sorts of different names and styles, but there are three basic forms of fonts: Serif, sans-serif, and script (or decorative) fonts.

Serif fonts are those that have small ticks on the ends of letters. Popular examples include Times New Roman and Adobe Garamond. If you open a book, chances are the body text is composed of serif fonts. The reason? The ticks on the end of serif fonts gives the text a horizontal flow, making it easier for your eye to follow and therefor read! This makes serif fonts ideal for long or dense texts.

Sans-serif fonts, on the other hand, are those that don’t have the ticks on the end, such as Franklin Gothic or Futura. Sans-serif fonts, though slightly harder to read, are very crisp and clean, which makes them great for grabbing attention. This is why Sans-serif fonts are often used as headers or subheaders in long texts or advertisements.

Script fonts or decorative fonts can be either serif or sans serif. What sets script fonts apart is that these lovely letters should only be used as accent. Script fonts are fun to look at, but can be difficult to read for dense or long texts.

What Makes a Good Font?

There are thousands of different fonts available from places such as FontSquirrel or Dafont. (Make sure when browsing these websites though that you note whether the font is available for personal or commercial use). Dozens of varieties of serif, sans-serif and script fonts are available. But are some better than others? Yes. Though preference does play a large part in font selection, there are some fonts that are simply designed better than others. One key way to tell how well a font is made is to look at the tracking (the space between letters). Good fonts will have space between letters that is visually equal, making words feel smooth and united, and easy to read. Fonts with some poor design elements may include those where the capital letters try to run away from a design. If you like the font despite the flaws, not all hope is lost! Most design programs will allow you to adjust the tracking between letters so that you can make it visually equal. It just takes more time.

What Makes a Good Design?

When using different fonts to create one design, keep in mind several tips: First, use fonts that match. These are fonts with similar design elements, shapes, or weights that complement each other. Second, don’t use fonts that ‘almost’ match. If fonts are too close, our brain will feel that something is inconsistent, and that one font is an altered or ‘incorrect’ version of the first font, creating tension instead of harmony. Third, design with hierarchy in mind. When creating an advertisement, emphasize the words that matter. Words like ‘the’ and ‘of’ don’t need emphasis. Instead, focus on the word that best carries across your message.

For more design tips and font ideas, check out our typography Pinterest board!