The age old question when starting a type based project- which font type should I use? I have sat down to start a project and sat at my computer for hours researching and looking through different types of fonts.
In Fact I know tons of other designers who deal with this exact same problem, I have heard of some saying that they spend 3 hours at most just deciding a font. Most designers agree that finding an appropriate font can be the bulk of time spent on a project.
One way I have found to speed up this process is to first decide on which font family I would like to use first. Before I tell you the five questions you should ask yourself I think it’s important to define the characteristics of each font type.
Serif
A serif font is a font with a small line or stroke attached to the letters. Times New Roman is a common example of a serif font. Serif fonts have an old fashioned feel, and are often used in luxury branding. Serif fonts are ideal for reading long bodies of text like novels and articles.
Sans-Serif
A sans-serif font literally means a font without serifs, serifs are the extended strokes at the end of letters. A common example of a sans serif font is Arial or Helvetica. Sans serif fonts give a project a minimalistic, simple, and modern vibe. Sans-Serif fonts are used for small amounts of texts like captions, headlines, and credits. Sans-serif font is also ideal for really small type sizes.
Script
A Script font is based on handwriting, the letters are very fluid. Script fonts can be very flowy or they can just look like handwriting. Comic sans is an infamous example of a sans-serif script font. Script fonts are best when used for titles or headlines.
Decorative
This font family is the hardest to define because it comes in so many styles. Decorative Fonts can look three dimensional, they can look like graffiti, or have a certain feel of an era, etcetera.
These fonts are often designed to be displayed in a large font size. It is best to use a decorative font for headlines or titles or really big, but short, lines of text.
Question 1: How much text will be in this project?
Will I have a small amount of text for reading or will I have paragraphs on top of paragraphs?
If you have small amounts of text any font type will work. If you have a large amount of text you should probably go with a sans-serif font.
Question 2: What is the feel of this project?
Am I designing something modern? Luxurious? Fun and playful? Or something based on a very serious topic?
If you are designing something modern I would suggest a sans-serif font. Something luxurious or old fashioned a serif font would work best. Fun and playful can be decorative or script. A serious topic should probably be a serif or san-serif font.
Question 3: Who am I designing for?
Are you designing for a company or brand? Do they have requirements? What is their company's mission statement? The feel of the company? Are you designing for a website?
If you are designing for a website a sans-serif font is the most popular font to use for text on a website. If it’s not a website match these questions with the descriptions of the fonts to decide which font type would work best.
When you ask yourself these questions and decide which font family to use here are some less common fonts that could set you apart. I think all of them are worth trying out in your projects.
Sans-Serif
JT Energy- Available for download on Fontsquirrel.com
This font only has 845 downloads. The designer is OGJ Type Design. This font is worth giving a try because it is designed with optically consistent line thickness. It would be best used for titles and headlines.
Darker Grotesque- Available for download on Fontsquirrel.com
This font has 4,064 downloads. The designer is Gabriel Lam. This typeface comes in several different weights and is inspired by the brutalism we have been experiencing in popular typefaces.
Serif
Caladea- Available for download on googlefonts.com
This font has been downloaded 463,000 times. The designers are Andrés Torresi And Carolina Giovanolli. This font comes in four different styles.
Gelasio- Available for download from Fontsquirrel.com
This font has 3,328 downloads. The designer is Sorkin Type Co. This typeface supports over 130 different languages.
Script
House Slant- Available for download at fontsquirrel.com
This font has been downloaded 24,902 times. The font is designed by House Industries. It is a thick almost Sharpie like font, with only uppercase letters.
Parisienne- Available for download at fontsquirel.com
This font is designed by Astigmatic. The font has been downloaded 128,098 times. This font is free flowing and fun.
Decorative
la petite- Available for download from fontstruct.com
This font has been downloaded 12 times and is designed by the user lilwimma. This font is all lowercase but it has a high class feel to it.
Badger Spine- Available for download from fontstruct.com
This font has been downloaded 4,792 times. It is designed by user hollydennis. This font is all uppercase, it has a rock and roll feel to it.
Choosing a font can be the hardest part of a project, but it doesn't have to be if you ask yourself these three questions, how much text will be in this project, what is the feel of this project and who am I designing for? With this in mind and the examples of seldom used fonts that will set your project apart, go out and design!
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