Monday, June 11, 2012

Mixing and Matching Fonts

Mixing and matching up fonts! Fun! It looks awesome when done right... and if not? Font vomit. So you gotta be careful but it's not rocket science.  Here are some really simple tips:

  1. Opposites Attract:  Try using two fonts that are complete opposites together like serif and sans serif, a big fat font and a skinny font, a fancy script and a simple serif or an uppercase font with a lower case one.
  2. Choose fonts with different kerning or play with it yourself.  The kerning is the space between letters.  It's really trendy to have an E   N   O   R   M   O   U   S space between letters on some words!  
  3. Don't go overboard.  Limit the fonts to 3-5 different font in one document.  Sure, you will some examples that can pull off more but leave that to the professionals!
  4. Body text or the "bulk" of the text that a person has to read (like what you are doing now) needs to be in something easy to read.  For print, serif fonts are the easiest on the eyes to read. Sans serif is easier to read on the computer though.
  5. Mix fonts from the same historical period but have different features.  
Have fun mixing it up! Want to know what fonts were used in the image above?  


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29 comments:

  1. *katieJune 12, 2012 at 9:18 AM

    Thanks for the tips, love the combo of fonts used!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mrs. ScomaJune 12, 2012 at 11:16 AM

    Love this! :) But the teacher in me wants to let you know that #4 says 'east' instead of 'easy'...

    I'm going now to look up the great fonts!

    ReplyDelete
  3. jaleeseJune 12, 2012 at 11:50 AM

    Glad you guys enjoyed it! Also thanks for noticing our error. It's fixed now :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. UnknownJune 19, 2012 at 7:11 AM

    Lovely!!. :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. MartiJuly 12, 2012 at 2:38 PM

    I love your idea and your tips. I will love using this in My Digital Studio software to make my own framable. And will share your post about this on my blog - thanks
    Marti, http://stampwithmarti.com

    ReplyDelete
  6. jaleeseJuly 12, 2012 at 3:29 PM

    Thanks for sharing and so glad you like it! Can't wait to see your own framable. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  7. HollyAugust 9, 2012 at 7:02 AM

    What is the font name for the cursive? etc...etc...etc...

    ReplyDelete
  8. HollyAugust 9, 2012 at 7:02 AM

    by the way, this is such a great post! thanks for taking the time to teach!!!

    ReplyDelete
  9. jillustratorAugust 9, 2012 at 8:22 AM

    Holly, looks like we forgot to mention a font. It's TXT Longhand. Get here: http://www.scrapnfonts.com/searchdetail.php?psku=10822

    ReplyDelete
  10. GinnieAugust 27, 2012 at 3:17 AM

    Hi!

    What is the font used for F A T?

    ReplyDelete
  11. jillustratorAugust 27, 2012 at 11:19 PM

    Ginnie, it took some detective work to figure it out! The word "FAT" is actually just Times New Roman Bold with an outline that is the same color as the letter that is making it extra fat. I hope that helps! I realize some programs don't let you outline letters and I hope that isn't the case for you!

    ReplyDelete
  12. WhitneyAugust 28, 2012 at 11:33 AM

    Thanks for this post...I have been driving myself crazy trying to figure out how to design something similar to this to paint and hang on my wall. Feeling a little overwhelmed still, though. Anyone know of a way to "plug in" a phrase to a template or something already made, like this??

    ReplyDelete
  13. jillustratorAugust 28, 2012 at 12:02 PM

    @Whitney... I wish there was a way to plug it in, but trust me, there isn't! Certain letters and words will throw it all off. One thing that is often hard to work around is words or letters w/ descenders like g,j,y, etc... they can easily make a design look goofy if you aren't careful. Sometimes it works to put a word like that in all caps so you don't have to design around the awkward spacing it makes. Good luck!

    ReplyDelete
  14. UnknownSeptember 8, 2012 at 3:04 PM

    What do you use to put them all together? word? paint? photoshop?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. jaleeseDecember 11, 2012 at 2:57 PM

      Alicia we used Illustrator to put it all together :)

      Delete
  15. MariaDecember 24, 2012 at 7:14 AM

    Nice post! I tipped historica periods choice, especially considering medieval fonts and typefaces!

    ReplyDelete
  16. UnknownApril 15, 2013 at 6:53 AM

    Guess I'm a little behind the times as this was first posted quite a while ago (too busy reading long research articles)- Anyway thanks for the tips- I've been exploring my creative side (didn't know I had one until I quit caring what my family thought was "tacky"... I heard that word so many times growing up it wasn't until I turned 50 that all of a sudden I realized (from doing Power Points) that I had a creative bone in my body! I LOVED the framed fonts and very much appreciated the tips- I had just begun to experiment on my own - very useful advice- Thanks again!

    ReplyDelete
  17. AnonymousJune 2, 2013 at 10:51 PM

    Its great inspirational post about mixing and matching fonts. I wanted to leave a little comment to support you and wish you a good continuation. Wish you best of luck for all your best efforts.
    website design

    ReplyDelete
  18. UnknownJune 17, 2013 at 2:10 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  19. UnknownApril 15, 2015 at 6:16 AM

    I might have to try mixing and matching fonts in my Digital Design class. It looks great.

    ReplyDelete
  20. smorrsFebruary 17, 2016 at 9:37 AM

    love this! is it possible to purchase a higher resolution of this poster for print??

    ReplyDelete
  21. UnknownMarch 25, 2016 at 1:20 AM

    Your blog very nice and good information
    3 IN 1WALL MIXER

    ReplyDelete
  22. AnonymousNovember 28, 2018 at 7:10 AM

    Is your poster above available as a download? I would love to have something like this to hang in my yearbook classroom (without having to make it myself).

    ReplyDelete
  23. pslvseo a4December 5, 2018 at 11:11 PM

    Dafont.com is a site where you can download a ton of free fonts. You can search for a specific typeface, or search by the type of lettering you want, whether it’s serif or sans serif, hand lettered or grunge style. You can also put in your own phrase to see how it looks in a particular font. A lot of these fonts are very decorative and many are handdrawn, so it’s not always the best place to search for body text fonts. Each selection also tells you whether your download is free for personal or commercial use. The download is easy – you get a zip file with the font file inside. Unzip, install, and you’re ready to go.

    ReplyDelete
  24. pslvseo a5December 11, 2018 at 12:43 AM

    Dafont.com is a site where you can download a ton of free fonts. You can search for a specific typeface, or search by the type of lettering you want, whether it’s serif or sans serif, hand lettered or grunge style. You can also put in your own phrase to see how it looks in a particular font. A lot of these fonts are very decorative and many are handdrawn, so it’s not always the best place to search for body text fonts. Each selection also tells you whether your download is free for personal or commercial use. The download is easy – you get a zip file with the font file inside. Unzip, install, and you’re ready to go.

    ReplyDelete
  25. pslvseo a5December 13, 2018 at 7:50 PM

    Dafont.com is a site where you can download a ton of free fonts. You can search for a specific typeface, or search by the type of lettering you want, whether it’s serif or sans serif, hand lettered or grunge style. You can also put in your own phrase to see how it looks in a particular font. A lot of these fonts are very decorative and many are handdrawn, so it’s not always the best place to search for body text fonts. Each selection also tells you whether your download is free for personal or commercial use. The download is easy – you get a zip file with the font file inside. Unzip, install, and you’re ready to go

    ReplyDelete
  26. pslvseo a5December 15, 2018 at 1:55 AM

    Dafont.com is a site where you can download a ton of free fonts. You can search for a specific typeface, or search by the type of lettering you want, whether it’s serif or sans serif, hand lettered or grunge style. You can also put in your own phrase to see how it looks in a particular font. A lot of these fonts are very decorative and many are handdrawn, so it’s not always the best place to search for body text fonts. Each selection also tells you whether your download is free for personal or commercial use. The download is easy – you get a zip file with the font file inside. Unzip, install, and you’re ready to go.

    ReplyDelete
  27. pslvseo a4December 17, 2018 at 10:20 PM

    Dafont.com is a site where you can download a ton of free fonts. You can search for a specific typeface, or search by the type of lettering you want, whether it’s serif or sans serif, hand lettered or grunge style. You can also put in your own phrase to see how it looks in a particular font. A lot of these fonts are very decorative and many are handdrawn, so it’s not always the best place to search for body text fonts. Each selection also tells you whether your download is free for personal or commercial use. The download is easy – you get a zip file with the font file inside. Unzip, install, and you’re ready to go.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Be HappyFebruary 24, 2022 at 7:19 AM

    GMA Teleserye
    ABS CBN Teleserye
    Pinoy Tambayan Teleserye

    ReplyDelete

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