Helwhatica?
FONTS! TYPOGRAPHY! That’s what! Lets be frank, there are some whackadoo fonts out there. Ones that look like kittens, candy and drunk handwriting, with so much choice out there it’s important to keep your end user in mind. When designing here are some general rules you should always follow.
Rule 1: Less is more
Try to limit yourself to 3 or less font variations per design, this keeps the users eye focused on your content rather than unconsciously wandering about the page deciphering what’s going on.
Rule 2: Consistency
This goes hand in hand with rule 1; using a small amount of fonts effectively. This means having the same header and body font on every page and never introducing a new font half way through a document.
Rule 3: The right font for the job
Serif, sans serif, bold, italic, heavy, light, regular, slab, there are so many options! How do I know what is the right font for my design? Well that really depends on what you are trying to convey to your customers; what feeling…
Feelings? Yes. Fonts have feelings too! For example a light floaty, curly script font has more of a feminine, luxurious feeling, this could be suited to jewellery for example. Whereas a chunky, solid, sans serif font has a more masculine feeling and would be better suited to an industrial or professional identity.
But as always, rules were made to be broken and there will always be a situation when you really can go a little wild, it’s up to you to restrain yourself.
Be spatially aware!
I find that kerning makes all the difference, especially with non-standard fonts, some people overlook kerning but in my opinion it is essential if you are looking for clean balanced easy on the eye design.
WTF is kerning? Kerning is the amount of space between each letter, too much and the impact of the words will be lost, too little and the letters will be touching each other inappropriately. For example if you have a one or two word logo, getting the kerning right is essential as people will not only see the words, but also the space between them, and this detracts from the design.
Now lets talk more about me!
Every designer has favorite fonts, staples that they like to go to, mine is Helvetica Neue, it’s clean, versatile and has a nice large family, just what you looking for in a font partner.
