Different projects call for different type choices and combinations. Are you working on a book? Is the book a novel, or is it a coffee table book that includes lots of pictures and explanatory text? Are you working on a brochure, a catalog, a magazine, a poster, an invitation? Each project has different requirements as to readability, legibility, and impact. Your first task is to determine which part of your project needs readability, which needs legibility, and which needs impact.
„ The lengthiest text needs to be the most readable.„ The text that people will skim through, such as items in a catalog or headlines in a newsletter, needs to be the most legible.„ The text thatÕs designed to catch someoneÕs eye in a hurry and create an instant impression needs to be the most impactful.
One project might include all three of these possibilities. For instance, you might have an annual report that has lots of boring copy that you hope people will read, many headlines theyÕll skim through to find what they want, and some brave text here and there (like on the cover or section heads) that will grab their attention in the right wayŃÓrightÓ meaning in a way thatÕs appropriate to that particular audience.
So letÕs begin by looking at some guidelinesŃthen weÕll branch out from there.
Readability
Readability refers to how easy it is to read long blocks of text. The more text, the less you want the typeface to grab the readerÕs interest; the more unbroken the text, the more invisible the typeface should be. For instance, in a novel a reader wants to get to the end of the novel without being interrupted by quirky letterforms; we donÕt want anything to take us out of the story and make us think of something as silly as the interesting shape of the letter g.
The most invisible typefaces are in the oldstyle category, possibly because when that typeface structure was set in hot metal in the 1500s (based on ancient Roman letterforms), there wasnÕt anything except books to use the type forŃno billboards, no magazine ads, no packaging. Whether itÕs because over the centuries we have become most familiar with oldstyles or because the actual structure of the letterforms is more conducive to the reading process, oldstyles turn out to be the easiest to read in long blocks of printed text. I use Garamond, Warnock, or Jenson, and my preference is still toward certain versions of Garamond as being the most readable face on the planet.
Design for the audienceStarting with the premise of classic oldstyle for lengthy copy, expand your text face options depending on the project. Is it a formal project, such as an annual report or scholarly tome? Use the most invisible typeface you can find. Is it a newsletter? You can get away with a typeface with a little more character. Is it a brochure? Depending on who itÕs for, you can experiment with quite a range of text faces and even move into sans serif fonts because the columns are typically narrower in a brochure.
Legibility
While readability refers to how easy it is to read lengthy text, legibility refers to how easy it is to instantly recognize short bursts of text such as headlines, freeway signage, catalog entries, etc. It turns out that sans serif faces are the most legible for short bursts of text. Apparently the clean and distinctive letterforms make it easier for the words to go straight into our brains when we need to get small amounts in a hurry.
Among sans serifs, you can find very strict, simplified forms, or ones that have a more casual edge to them by adding curves and quirky characteristics. As with readability, however, the quirkier it is, the less legible (thatÕs why you donÕt see freeway signage set in Peignot). The extreme light weights and bold weights of sans serifs are also less legible.
All capsRemember, type set in all caps reduces the legibility and the readability of any text. We donÕt read letter by letterŃwe read in groups. Entire words go into our eyes, straight to our brains. We recognize those words by their shapes. Once you put words in all caps, all their shapes are the same and we have to go back to reading letter by letter.
IÕm not suggesting that you never use all capsŃjust keep the reduced legibility in mind. Sometimes, of course, your design calls for those rectangular forms of words in all caps, and you know theyÕre not impossible to read. If you can put into words why that rectangular form is important to your design and why itÕs okay to accept a little less legibility/readability, then carry on with all caps.
Impact
For the display text that constitutes the main elements of something like a book cover, poster, invitation, brochure, etc., it can be even more daunting to find the right typeface because itÕs that typeface thatÕs going to set the mood. One thing you must do is trust yourselfŃyou know what feeling is evoked from a particular typeface. Your gut reaction to a chosen font is probably the same as that of your audience.
But what I encourage you to do is experiment beyond your initial reaction to type choices. For instance, perhaps you have to create a poster for a local gym. You might initially think you need a macho, thick, strong, bully face. But today, gyms cater to all sorts of different clienteleŃone might be limited to just women, just gay people, just mothers and pregnant women, just macho males, just seniors, etc. What is it about this gym that the owner wants to emphasize? The friendly atmosphere, the female-ness, the high energy, the low energy? Find the essence of what you want to evoke, not the surface clichŽ.
A high-tech brochure doesnÕt need those awful ŅcomputeryÓ fonts, the ones that look like computer type on old PCs from the Õ70s. Apple, one of the highest tech of all high-tech companies, for decades used a slightly condensed version of an oldstyle Garamond font originally created in about 1530. Rather than evoke a ŅcomputerÓ look, they went for a look that captured classic elegance, elitism, stability. Lots of white space helped, too.
High-tech, high-end products tend to have a crisp, clean, sharp look. ChildrenÕs products tend to be colorful and energetic; new age products tend to have warm, earthy tones; scientific and scholarly works tend to be very conservative. But you already know thatŃwhat you need to do is take those ideas that you already know and experiment with typefaces that convey that feeling in slightly new or different ways.
In praise of platitudesKeep in mind, however, that sometimes the obvious is the best solution. With platitudes, everyone knows exactly what youÕre talking about: blood dripping off the type on a horror poster, a lovely script for a wedding invitation, grungy type for a skateboarding poster. ThereÕs a certain comfort for the reader in knowing what to expect; so donÕt try to make everything so new and different that the basic meaning gets confused. Things become clichŽs precisely because they work so well.
Experiment
Once you have an idea of how to narrow down your choices, experiment. Go to someplace like Veer.com or MyFonts.com where you can choose categories of type, and then enter your own text and point size so you can see how different faces might look.
For body copy, take a paragraph of text from your project, set it in at least five different fonts, and narrow it down to a couple that you like. Then using those two or three faces, experiment with the point size and leading values. Even such miniscule changes as tenths of a point in both font size and leading values can change the look of the piece. DonÕt rely on your monitor when making a text face decisionŃyou must print out the samples before you make a final choice.
Make a decision as to what part of your design will set the tone, the impact. It might be the title, or the headlines, or the body copy. For instance, in a lengthy article that you want people to read, start with the body copy and its settings. From there, work with the guidelines in ŅChoosing Type CombinationsÓ to find typefaces that will combine beautifully with your chosen face, plus support the essence of what you want to convey. For a poster, experiment with fonts for the largest text on the page before you begin to make decisions for the smaller text. Choose some fonts you might not think are appropriate and see what happens.
ThereÕs no quick-and-easy solution to font choices, and having thousands of fonts to choose from doesnÕt make it any easier. Keep in mind, however, that there isnÕt one perfect choice, but thousands of perfect choices. With a conscious eye and thoughtful combinations, your problem wonÕt be to find the perfect solution, but which one of your many perfect solutions to choose for the final piece.