How to Choose the Best Fonts for Desktop Publishing

Choosing fonts is both an art and a science. Fonts play an important role in design; they set the tone and provide readability in conveying a message. Certain guidelines and practices allow desktop publishers to choose fonts for the best look.

Instructions

1. Place legibility at the top of your list. Fonts present information, and if they aren't readable, then viewers aren't getting your message.

2. Know that type plays different roles in different situations. You may require different fonts for items such as headlines and titles, body copy and subheads. The importance is establishing a hierarchy within the format of your project. This means that the most important information being conveyed should always appear most significant on the page. This can be achieved through using different size type, boldface or italics, or the placement of type on a page.

3. Understand the difference between serifs and sans serifs. Serifs contain marks on the "arms" and "legs" of letters that can make them easier to read in body copy as they help to lead the eye from one letter to the next. One of the most popular serif fonts is Times. Sans serifs are often more clean and streamlined. Arial is an example.

4. Use two contrasting fonts to establish an interesting hierarchy on the page. A serif and san serif combo often works well, but you don't have to be limited to that combination.

5. Limit yourself to two different fonts. Incorporating too many makes a project look too busy and unprofessional.

6. Reserve decorative or script fonts for headlines or special places, but do not overuse.

7. Ask yourself if the font you're using conveys the message you intend.