

Pre-installed fonts display more quickly than bespoke designs. Most sans-serif typefaces date from the 20 th century, including Helvetica (used by McDonalds and Microsoft) and Arial (commissioned by IBM, but now used by eBay and Amazon). A serif font like Times New Roman is regarded as more traditional and formal than Futura’s sans-serif display font, even though both were developed in the 1920s. In an age of quills and inkwells, this literally drew a line under a letter and aided its identification. Benjamin Franklin decreed that Baskerville should be used on American Government documents, preferring its clean design over the heavily stylized fonts previously used in official forms.Įarly fonts were mostly serif, that is, with small lines distinguishing the end of each pen stroke. Similarly, Baskerville was created by an English engraver in the early 1700s. Modern audiences will be more familiar with it through its use in the Harry Potter and Hunger Games novels. Garamond was created by a medieval Parisian publisher, and was first used on a Latin textbook in 1548 AD. Some fonts boast a lengthy history, which helps to imbue them with grandeur and tradition.

Why do Volkswagen and IKEA use the 1920s Futura font, while the BBC and the Spanish Government rely on Gill Sans? Why have sans serif fonts largely replaced their serif ancestors, and who decided Comic Sans was a good idea? Font Heritage And that’s important from a business perspective, since the typefaces used to populate our websites and corporate documents carry a significance we often overlook.

From gender and personality to tone and perception, display fonts can convey a message in very different ways. Throughout the generations we have come to associate fonts with certain characteristics. Many Microsoft Word and Google Docs typefaces were historically used by printing presses, before being reinterpreted in digital form for today’s word processing packages. The best font pairings: 36 perfect examples 01.Fonts have been a crucial component of written communications since the 15 th century. Meanwhile, read on for our choice of the best font pairings. If you need to brush up on your typography knowledge, take a look at our typography tutorials. Again, geometric sans serifs marry best with these. This third sub-category includes Bodoni, Didot, New Century Schoolbook and Walbaum. These pair with geometric sans serifs like Avant Garde, Avenir, Century Gothic, Eurostile, Futura and Univers.įinally, modern serifs tend to have a very dramatic contrast between thick and thin for a more pronounced, stylised effect, as well as a larger x-height. Transitional serifs have a stronger contrast between thick and thin strokes (examples include Bookman, Mrs. Generally speaking, Old Style serifs such as Bembo, Caslon and Garamond will combine well with Humanist sans serifs like Gill Sans and Lucida Grande. 'Serif' and 'sans serif' are very broad classifications, and each can be split into several sub-categories.
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For example, if you have a really unique display face full of personality, you'll need something more neutral to do the hard work and create a balance. This could be as simple as adjusting the weight, the size or the colour of the same typeface, but when the typefaces vary, careful font pairing is crucial. It's also important that you establish a clear hierarchy. To achieve the perfect contrast, you'll often want to pair a serif font with a sans serif font. You don't often find that similar serifs or similar sans serifs look particularly nice next to each other. If typefaces are too similar, it's likely that they'll conflict. Contrasting fonts can be hard to find as you're effectively searching for two fonts that are totally different but also complement each other rather than causing conflict.
