What's Your Type?

The introduction of computers and the Internet have created major advances in the field of typography. Using type to create projects no longer requires tedious hours of typesetting and alignment. What used to take days can now be recreated within a few minutes with a downloaded font and a computer program. Still, with all the tools readily available to us, most people feel intimidated when it comes time to choose the typography for their project.

It is best to first begin by reviewing the difference between fonts. With this basic knowledge, you will be able to better understand which types of fonts blend well together. Some characteristics that you want to consider would be:

• Style: Trying to match a font with the feeling that you want the reader to experience will create a stronger impact. If it is a whimsical theme, use a fun freestyle font. If you are doing a layout of a wedding, a more elegant font would be better suited.
• Read-ability: Keep in mind that certain fonts will not work as well for journaling. I suggest printing out a test of the font to make sure that it is legible. You want your viewer to be able to read the text when you are finished.
• Dingbats: You remember those children's picture books that incorporate an image to replace a word or letter. You can use a Dingbat font for those images. Like the books, it is a fun way to present a story in a child-like, interactive format.
• Ransom: Much like that of a ransom note, individual letters of different fonts can be used together to spell out your wording. This works best for titles or short journaling. It may be necessary to use extra spacing between words for better clarity.
• Basic Tools: Don't forget that you can change the look of a font by simply using the UPPER or lower case versions, the font size control, as well as the bold and italic features of your word program.

Admittedly, typing the word ‘font' into any search engine can be overwhelming. There are many sites that have thousands of different font types to choose from, but don't let that confuse you. Our world is surrounded in typography by way of business signs, advertisements, magazines, and on the covers of the music that we listen to. All of these things can be used as a guide for font selections, arrangement and inspiration to help you to include creative typography on your next layout.