James Barsby

The Typographic Spectrum

Sunday, 7 September 2008

Choosing the right font for a design project can be a daunting prospect. There are thousands of fonts available, many far too outlandish to be of any real use and others so similar they are hard to tell apart. To make life a little easier, I have chosen the following selection. These should work well for most of the jobs a designer is likely to receive. Each has a small sample, description and a list of similar typefaces if you don't have one of them in your collection. Although many of these are considered classics, I have chosen a few of my own personal favourites to keep things interesting. The best way to learn about typefaces is to see them, so let's get started:

Mrs Eaves is a wonderfully quirky typeface with wide kerning and beautiful italics.

Sabon is a fine example of a classic serif. It has a sturdy form which makes it excelent for body copy and is regularily used in books.

Didot is the ubiquitous fashion font.

Alternatives: Bodoni, Alfon, Walbaum.

Clarendon is a bold display face and works wonderful for large titles and headings.

Alternatives: Excelsor, Superclarendon.

Archer brings subtly to slab serifs.

Alternatives: Soho, Caecilia, Juvenis

Futura some how manages to look both retro and modern at the same time.

Alternatives: Neutra, Gotham, Avant Garde, Avenir.

Gill Sans is a classic english typeface. It is an adaptation of the London underground typeface.

Alternatives: Humanist 521, P22 London Underground, Bliss.

Helvetica is loved and hated by designers in equal measure, it's so famous they even made a film about it. It has a solid utilitarian form and works with everything, but as a result is heavily overused. Alternatives: Swiss 721, Akzidenz Grotesk

Formata boasts curved forms and subtle features that set it apart from the other sans serifs.

Cronos Pro has an organic/rounded feel to it.

Optima brings thick/thin styling to a sans serif.

Alternatives: URW Classico, Solaire DT,

Klavika is one of many high-tech faces currently in fashion.

Alternatives: Purista, Sanuk, Max, Coupe, Milibus and the somewhat overused Eurostyle.

Kursiveschrift is a little-known typeface that owes much of it's styling to didots italics.

Snell Roundhand or the font of a thousand wine labels.

Andrade Pro should be your first port of call for anything involving a flourish. Although at times it seems a little over the top, it still manages to achieve its goal with outstanding class. No wedding invite should be without it.

In Conclusion

It is essential to have a selection of fonts to draw upon when beginning a new project. Don't forget to experiment with different font weights, but I recommend using a maximum of two typefaces for any piece of work.

posted by James Barsby at 21:35