5 Tips for Choosing the Right Typeface

Having the wrong typeface in a design can turn a brilliant design into a disaster. That’s why choosing the right typeface for a design can be challenging. With practice, choosing the right typeface becomes a little easier. Here are a few tips to help you with this process.

1. Know the Purpose of your Design.

tip 1 for choosing the right typeface — Image Source: Canva

Typefaces can display different moods, and they have their own personalities. When choosing a typeface, you must make sure that the typeface you choose displays the right mood. You want your targeted audience to have that same mood when they see your design. For example, the typeface for a business report would be somewhat traditional like a serif font. In contrast, the typeface for a fashion magazine could use a sans serif font (these fonts are more modern). The magazine could even use a script font (since some of these fonts are feminine and show elegance).

2. Make Sure the Typeface You Use Has Readability

Things such as alignment, spacing, and leading affect the readability of a typeface. You need to decide what size your typeface should be for your design. Is the typeface for a heading? Subheading? Body text? Or Billboard? One way to determine a good typeface is to set it to a smaller size (10 pt or 12 pt). If you can still read what is written without any distortion to the typeface, then that’s a good typeface to use.

3. Use a Typeface Super Family

tip 3 choose typeface super family — Image Source: Wikimedia Commons

Typeface superfamilies usually have similar structures and the foundation of the typeface is the same. One benefit of using a typeface superfamily is its combination of both serif and sans serif designs. In addition, these designs have a variety of weights. This means that if you’re pressed for time on a design, you can use the same typeface and change its style. Also, it’s good to use a typeface superfamily if you’re unsure about which typefaces to pair together for your design.

Thesis is a type of superfamily typeface. It has 3 different styles: The Sans, The Mix, and The Serif. Created in 1994, this typeface pioneered the superfamily concept.

4. Make Sure the Typeface You Use Has Legibility

The legibility of a typeface is affected by things such as the x-height and the weight of a typeface. The people seeing your design need to be able to distinguish the difference between the letters in a typeface. For example, typefaces that have a lighter weight are usually more legible than typefaces that have a heavier weight.

5. Use Typefaces by the Same Designer

If you plan on using multiple typefaces in your design, use typefaces by the same designer of the typeface you’re using. Designers who create multiple typefaces tend to use some of the same approaches and styles in their typefaces.