Ascenders and Descenders
These are the parts of lower case letters that extend above (in ascenders) the x-height, or below (in descenders) the baseline of the type. Ascenders include b, d, f, l, and t. Descenders include q, p, g, and y. These are important to keep in mind because line spacing or “leading” keeps these apart for ease in reading, but when you want to get creative with lettering, you may want to decrease the leading. This means the ascenders and descenders could overlap and crash into each other, making it harder to read the text. Denise McGill I have seen cases where this is exactly what you want. The most intriguing poster was created for people to understand what it was like for people with reading disabilities like dyslexia by decreasing the leading so all the text crowded each other. It was indeed difficult to read for a good reason.
Kerning and Tracking
Kerning is the term used for selective letter spacing. Certain letter combinations would work better if the spacing were less than other letters. AW is a letter combination that can be squeezed a little closer together without any loss of readability. Letters like “ili” can be closer together also. Letters like “aobq” and all similar round letters need their space to keep readability. Tracking is different from Kerning in that tracking is spacing in entire blocks of text rather than just certain letters. Tracking can be applied to all the text or selected portions to make it fit into a block better. Denise McGill With the sample, I typed the headline with Cooper Std Black Font. In the second one, I typed the greater part of the words with Cooper Std Black Font but used Herculanum Regular for the capitals and &. Having two fonts helps with the Kerning. I can move them close together.
Graphic Design Tricks for Working With Text and Font
There are several things that most graphic designers are told not to do. These are not hard and fast rules never to be broken. However, it is wise to consider them. Denise McGill
What Does It Mean?
Having all that information still sends us back to “what are the best fonts to choose?” Sometimes I have the hardest time choosing a perfect font for a certain poster or headliner. It is a dilemma because there are so many to choose from. Do you want a feminine feel or a masculine feel? Do you want something looking official and corporate, or modern and easy-going? Do you want them to wear a 3-piece suit or a pair of jeans? It makes a difference in the message.
Denise McGill
My rule of thumb is that Serif fonts (those with the feet like Times New Roman) are official and corporate and the San-Serif (without the feet like Helvetica) is modern and easy-going. The next rule of thumb is that italic and sweeping ascenders and descenders are feminine whereas the bold or standard fonts are more masculine.
Try to resist the really artsy fonts that look fun and flowery but are hard to read when you want something really legible. I’ve made that mistake before because I love the artsy fonts but I have to resist my creative side and make sure it is very readable.
Finding and Loading Fonts
You can get many free Fonts to use at a variety of different sites. I like DaFont. Once I have downloaded a font that I love, I have to first load it into Photoshop or any of my other programs to use it. In my Mac, I have a Font Book under Applications that will allow all my programs from Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator to Microsoft Word to use the same fonts. I go to Applications and find Font Book. Double-clicking will open the Font Book and I can then drag and drop the new font directly into the Font Book. It can then be used in Photoshop and all my other programs.
Final Thoughts
It can be very challenging to choose just the right font for messages for cards or letters or resumes. I hope this was a little bit of help in making a decision. If you have suggestions or thoughts on the subject, please feel free to leave it in the comments below.
Comments
Denise McGill (author) from Fresno CA on May 26, 2021: This is a very challenging problem when doing decorative things. Even educated artists struggle with it. In the end, it is all a matter of taste. Thanks for commenting. Blessings, Denise Denise McGill (author) from Fresno CA on September 21, 2019: Chitrangada Sharan, I’m so glad you found this helpful. Thanks for commenting. Blessings, Denise Chitrangada Sharan from New Delhi, India on September 20, 2019: This is a very informative article about choosing the right fonts. This is a complete subject in itself. While writing greeting cards etc, a certain artistic font is preferable to me. Normally I follow the general rule, big fonts at the title/ top and then comparatively it gets smaller, as we continue with sub headings and paragraphs. There are so many attractive options, while typing on the keypads. I would refer to your suggestions again. Thanks for sharing your expertise. Denise McGill (author) from Fresno CA on September 12, 2019: Cynthia, Yes. I couldn’t believe that art colleges had whole classes just on fonts and their uses and their hierarchy. (Hierarchy is the rule that the biggest headlines are on top and lesser subheadings are beneath them with text beneath that… all in different fonts and sizes.) Thanks for commenting. Blessings, Denise Denise McGill (author) from Fresno CA on September 12, 2019: HighPriestess, I absolutely understand. I’m a bit of a perfectionist too and when I first took a class on this subject I felt like a total disaster trying to make up my mind. There are SO MANY choices. I hope I helped a little. Blessings, Denise Denise McGill (author) from Fresno CA on September 12, 2019: Rochelle Frank, Haha, you make me laugh because that’s exactly what I do. I get mixed up about what comment I’m leaving where. We could be sisters! Blessings, Denise Cynthia Zirkwitz from Vancouver Island, Canada on September 12, 2019: Very interesting! While I did grow bored with Comic Sans, I had no idea there was so much of significance about choosing a font. Thank you! I will look at them with a different eye from now on. Ensorcelie from Albania on September 12, 2019: Choosing the right font is always a struggle for me, especially because I am a perfectionist and I just can’t make up my mind. I love the fonts in your article, and the tips are great! Rochelle Frank from California Gold Country on September 11, 2019: Actually , though I appreciated this article, my comment was supposed to be in response to your comment on my garden gnome hub. Cheers! Don’t try iPad typing when sleep deprived.! Rochelle Frank from California Gold Country on September 11, 2019: Thanks, Denise. This is one of my personal favorites. In my opinion it is not read often enough. So many people could use this information. Denise McGill (author) from Fresno CA on September 11, 2019: Linda Crampton, You are so welcome. I wish I knew more. Thanks for commenting. Blessings, Denise Denise McGill (author) from Fresno CA on September 11, 2019: Rochelle Frank, I’m with you. I kind of like the Comic Sans but back in the day, it was so overused that the graphic designers and teachers all scream DON’T use it. It’s overdone and out of favor. There are others too that are overused so they say don’t use them like Papyrus. Wouldn’t you know? I like Papyrus too. Thanks for commenting. Blessings, Denise Denise McGill (author) from Fresno CA on September 11, 2019: Linda Lum, I know that is true about some fonts not reading well on handheld devices. Most websites have their suggestions for the text, headings, banners, and other hierarchy. The suggestions are helpful because they identify those that will work for any device and still gives you a wide variety to choose from. Mostly they say you have to keep the size standard (10, 12 or 14 pts) so that it will read. Some larger (18 to 22 pts) sizes just don’t read well on handheld devices. Thanks for commenting. Blessings, Denise Denise McGill (author) from Fresno CA on September 11, 2019: Mary Norton, I know most people just rely on the default font and don’t really look for any others that are available. But when you do you have to think about the use before choosing. Who will see it, and why? Thanks for commenting. Blessings, Denise Denise McGill (author) from Fresno CA on September 11, 2019: wiz350, Good question. I don’t mean variations within one font like italic or bold. I mean completely different fonts like Comic Sans or Times New Roman or Helvetica. Each one of those has a completely different feel and dynamic. Thanks for commenting. Blessings, Denise Denise McGill (author) from Fresno CA on September 11, 2019: Eric Dierker, The rule among graphic designers is to never use more than 3 different fonts on the same document. If you are using one for the heading and different one for the body that sounds fine as long as it is readable. I’m glad you asked. Thanks for commenting. Blessings, Denise Denise McGill (author) from Fresno CA on September 11, 2019: RTalloni, I’m glad you think so. I know I’ve chosen totally inappropriate fonts because I liked them and found they just didn’t work because they weren’t readable. It makes a difference. Thanks for commenting. Blessings, Denise Linda Crampton from British Columbia, Canada on September 10, 2019: This is an informative and very useful article. Thank you for sharing your knowledge of graphic design, Denise. Rochelle Frank from California Gold Country on September 10, 2019: I used to love doing page layouts for the college paper. The fonts and type sizes were pretty limited and standard. I always hoped that I could have used Comic Sans for my humor articles– because that seemed funnier. Linda Lum from Washington State, USA on September 10, 2019: Thank you so much for putting this together. My younger daughter has a degree in Journalism and worked for several years as a layout editor so what you say resonates loud and clear. Thank you for making the use (or non-use) of Comic Sans a separate topic–that needs to be shouted from the rooftops. One more thing–are there specific fonts that are recognized on hand-held devices? I’m thinking that some fonts (especially the more elaborate ones) may not be available on some readers and so those character sets come out looking garbled. Mary Norton from Ontario, Canada on September 10, 2019: There are good pointers here on what fonts are more useful for various uses. I have not really given this much thought but now I will be more conscious of what fonts are more appropriate. wiz350 on September 09, 2019: Do you mean variable width fonts? Eric Dierker from Spring Valley, CA. U.S.A. on September 09, 2019: Ms.Paintdrips/Denise I sped read this right out of the shoot. (Do not laugh my mom put me in an Evelyn Wood class. She thought I was spending too much time reading and not enough working - she is still right) Cool I get paid for nowadays. But I read it again and then again. So that brings me to the point. I am working on a legal brief, an MOU and a nasty hard contract. Should I use varying fonts or does that make me look weird. I can see the emphasis use that might work to take it “out of the box” no matter how cliche’ that sounds. No matter thank you much for this. I like thinking about it. RTalloni on September 09, 2019: Resisting the creative will to be artsy with fonts sometimes seems futile but your are right, work at the project until the suitable font does the project justice. Thanks for sharing what you’ve learned.
