The world of fonts can be a complex one. Yet typography doesn’t need to leave you scratching your head. Most of the time, you can tell if a font looks good or if it doesn’t. But if you are having trouble picking the right fonts for print projects, a little help never hurt! Here’s our quick and painless guide to choosing the best fonts for print projects!
Understanding Typography Helps You Choose Fonts for Print Projects
Fonts and typography isn’t limited to the realm of layout specialists or graphic artists. At the same time, if you understand just a little bit about typography, choosing fonts for print projects becomes much, much easier. Here’s a crash course in typography that goes beyond italic and boldface and reveals the nitty-gritty of typefaces:
- Serif: serif fonts have tiny little embellishments at the ends of all its letters. This is a traditional design, and it’s meant to look like how an old-style fountain pen leaves a little extra ink at the end of pen strokes.
- Sans serif: these fonts literally mean “without serif”. Sans serif fonts leave off the embellishments of a serif font. The look is more minimalist but it’s also cleaner and more modern.
- Slab serif: this one’s kind of a mix between the first two fonts. The serifs are intact but they’re angular and blunted instead of flowing. It’s often thought of as mimicking the look and feel of an old-school typewriter.
- Script: a script font tries its best to mimic cursive writing. This means it links each letter in a word to make it look like it was drawn with one stroke, just like you got yelled at for not doing in elementary school.
Choosing the Right Mix of Fonts
So why are these font definitions important? Combining the use of fonts with these characteristics properly will make your printed projects pop, and in a good way. This isn’t a full list of course, but here are some quick guidelines meant to get you started:
- Never use script fonts for body content.
- Serif fonts will make body content easiest to read.
- Slab serif typefaces are perfect for blockquotes.
- Sans serif typefaces should be reserved for headings.
- Subheadings should be script or serif for the best contrast.
- Start large and go progressively smaller. Body content blocks can be separated by a medium size heading.
Other Things to Think About When Choosing Fonts for Print Projects
Choosing fonts for print projects is a complex endeavor. There are plenty other things you should keep in mind as well – and perhaps the most important is to remember that fonts often look different printed out on a substrate than they do on the screen of your laptop or phone. In this case it’s best to enlist the aid of an expert so that you don’t end up with any unpleasant surprises.
Las Vegas Color Graphics Is In Your Corner
Having trouble figuring out how to choose your fonts for print projects? It’s time to rely on Las Vegas Color Graphics. With 40 years of experience in the field, we’ve got what it takes to get your printed projects looking absolutely perfect. Contact us today and we’ll show you what we’ve got!
