A Guide to Font Combinations Part Two

Type Characteristics 

With the hundreds of thousands of typefaces available, trying to figure out where to start can be overwhelming, even for advanced designers. Understanding the characteristics of different typefaces is the first step in learning how to combine them effectively. 

Learning how these characteristics relate to one another allows designers to combine fonts with confidence and to experiment with unexpected combinations.

Experimentation and practice are where designers can truly hone their font combination skills and create designs that set them apart from other experts. Sometimes, listening to their intuition is the best way to create a typeface pairing that really shines. 

Classification 

Typeface classification is one of the most fundamental concepts to understand. There are four primary classifications to learn: serif, sans serif, script, and decorative. 

Serif and sans serif typefaces are suitable for both headlines and body text. Script (sometimes also called handwriting fonts) and decorative typefaces, however, are generally only acceptable for headlines and titles, or other small chunks of text. 

Serif fonts are considered more readable for long chunks of text (such as body text), particularly in post card printing designs, where the serif feature can help guide the reader’s eye along each line. But sans serif typefaces can also be highly readable and excel at smaller sizes (such as those used for captions or meta information). 

Sans serifs are also more popular for use on the web and are widely believed to be more readable than serif typefaces. Part of that stems from the early days of computing, when lower resolution screens made serif fonts somewhat blurry, depending on size.

With modern HD and Retina screens, this is less of an issue and serif and sans serif typefaces can both be used effectively. 

Combining typefaces from different classifications is often simpler than combining within classifications, as there’s a level of contrast between fonts already built-in.

That said, it’s also possible to effectively combine typefaces in the same class, as long as other characteristics are considered.