Font Smarts: 10 Easy Ways to Spruce up Your Documents

1
Avoid using Arial (Helvetica) or Times Roman. Arial (Helvetica) and Times Roman are classically great fonts, but because they are installed on virtually every computer, they are overused. To add some unique personality to your pages, try using other fonts.

2
Mix and match fonts. Contrast is one of the designer's most important principles. Contrast or variation maintains visual interest. You can do this easily with type by combining different fonts. If you're a novice, many fonts may seem similar to you. Two fonts that look very similar won't qualify as different fonts, so what do you do? Try this reliable formula: mix a serif font and a sans serif font.

Mixing a serif and sans serif will automatically ensure that the two fonts you select look distinctly different. I often reserve sans serif fonts for headlines and captions, and use a serif font for the body text, or vice versa.

3
Take advantage of the various styles within a font family. You can achieve contrast and continuity by using the various styles within a typeface. Many fonts have various weights like Light, Medium, Bold, Extra bold, and Italic. But don't go overboard. Use just a few of the styles, or the design may start to look spotty.

4
Avoid using two fonts that are too similar. The distinction between them will not be great enough. Although both of the fonts below are serifed, they are too similar to be used together.

5
Be consistent. You want to establish an identity that customers and clients can become familiar with. When you have selected a font or font set, use them consistently throughout your materials. If you use a serif font in your letter today, don't use a sans serif font in your letter tomorrow.

6
Don’t use all caps in body copy. IT'S HARDER TO READ AND NOT AN EFFECTIVE WAY TO CREATE EMPHASIS. It's better to use the various styles within the typeface, like medium or bold, and italics.

7
Avoid ornate display type. For the novice, a decorative or script typeface can be alluring. It has so much character! But almost all of them are inappropriate for day-to-day business applications.

… but not very easy to read, and inappropriate for everything except perhaps a dance class or party. Such typefaces are widely available, but I advise against them, unless you're really sure it's a good match. And if you do use it, use it sparingly!

… if used in very small doses, but one of the worst things you can do is use a decorative font like this …

The swashes are not meant to be repeated throughout the word, only in the first letter. Generally speaking, the more decorative the font, the more you ought to stay away from it. Stick with traditional typefaces.

8
Don’t use all italic type for body text. Legibility is paramount when it comes to typography. All-italic text is harder to read than regular text. Reserve italic type for small sections of type or for emphasis.

9
Think about color. If you have an ink jet printer, you already know that a little color can jazz up a document. Consider making the headlines or the subheads a color. Designers often create a "color set" — two or three colors that work well together. Like type styles, colors would be used consistently — and sparingly. Designers also refer to various shades of gray as “color.” If you work with a black and white printer, consider making a particular type element in gray. It can be a refreshing note among the black type used elsewhere.

10
Don’t limit body text to 12 pt. Type size is measured in points. As you know, all software applications let you adjust the point size. The default size for most applications is 12 pt. and therefore, most documents are in 12 point. But 12 pt. is generally larger than necessary for body text. For example, newsletters, magazines, and promotional documents commonly use point sizes of 9, 10, or 11. So, adjust that point size down a little. Not only will your fonts look more distinctive, so will their size!