The typeface and fonts you use in a design are often the most important decision you will make as a designer. In a previous post, we’ve already discussed the basic differences between Serif and Sans Serif fonts, in this article lets look at the 4 basic rules of selecting the perfect typography for your piece.

Rule 1: The Family Comes First. For continuity in a design, attempt to rely on a single font family. To avoid being backed into a corner, choose a family that has a variety of weights and faces.

Rule 2: Use Diversity. While working within the family is the first place to start with any design, adding a distinctive typeface can create additional visual hierarchy and interest. Be cautious however, when adding additional fonts limit the selection. Very rarely would you ever want any Remember that Counterpoint and Contrast are stronger than harmony. The least risky, out of family contrast is combining a serif and sans serif font.
 

Rule 3: Combine similiar proportions. The reason you can’t easily mix Helvetica and Times together is the difference in letter proportions. These fonts combined look awkward, not coherent. On the other side, a combination of Arial and Times would work well, because the letter proportions are similar. Be aware of the x-height of the letter’s you are combining.

Can you tell which one is Arial/Times or Helvetica/Times?

The top sample is the correctly proportioned combination of Arial and Times, the bottom example is the unproprtionate combination of Helvetica and Times.
 

Rule 4: Limit combinations. Don’t use a font if you don’t have too. There is a fine line between diversity and font clutter.  Each typeface should provide a definite and specific purpose within the piece you are designing, if it doesn’t it’s chaos that’s not necessary and should be replaced with a previously used font.

While I firmly believe every rule is made to be broken, I also believe you must have a firm grasp of the rules before you can break them!  Enjoy your type design!

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