21 Sep What’s to know about Fonts?
Various fonts and typefaces carry a lot of meaning and character in the way that they look. You must remember this when you are choosing a font for your next project—a font can completely change an intended message depending on how or where you use it.
Jessica Hische, a well-known and respected letterer, illustrator and blogger wrote in Upping Your Type Game:
“Typefaces definitely have personalities…I usually want something even-tempered and laid back but not lacking in personality. Finding typefaces with the right personality balance can be incredibly difficult…”
Typography is the vehicle through which we communicate tone of voice, age, gender, emotion—and it can be easily manipulated. Visual characteristics of the font do speak louder than words. People are being consciously and subconsciously influenced and directed by various font choices all the time. Be sure you’ve considered all the direct and indirect impacts of your font choices because they can drastically dictate how your audience feels, and even how they’re called to action.
1. Fonts vs. Typefaces
Fonts, typefaces… what’s the difference? Here’s the easiest explanation to remember:
A font is a grouping of typefaces that have similar characteristics.
A typeface is referring to an individual family member of that font.
2. Categories of fonts
There are an overwhelming amount of fonts at our fingertips, but first let’s talk about the main categories of fonts out there.
Serif: Serif is the slight projection at the end of a stroke that’s most commonly seen at the bottom of letters. If you look closely, some fonts will have “little feet” on them. This is what characterises it as being a Serif font. This allows the eye to flow through sentences with ease and is predominantly used in large bodies of text such as books.
Sans Serif font does not have the “little feet” that a serif font has (‘sans’ means ‘without’). Sans Serif fonts are often modern, trendy and streamlined, however they tend to be harder to read at smaller sizes.
Script: This font type is known for its elegant, light and professional appeal. You often see this kind of font written on wedding invitations, diplomas or certificates. Use this kind of font sparingly. It’s not designed to be used as body copy or used in small spaces.
Display: You often see this kind of font on movie posters, newspapers, banners, etc. It’s intentionally designed to grab your attention or to give emphasis to a certain area. This is another font that’s not meant to be used in large quantities—a little goes a long way.
Hand Lettering: These kinds of fonts have hand rendered characteristics. Maybe they look as if a child has written it, or as if someone used a Sharpie or whiteboard marker to jot something down.