How to Choose Fonts for Publication
As a publisher, you must consider a variety of options when determining the look of your publication. The most obvious considerations include cover art, paper type and hard or soft cover. However, you must also consider what font best represents your company along with the type of publication. Whether you publish fiction, nonfiction or scientific journals, the font can make your publication look professional, amateurish or even comic. Just follow these few steps, and you will choose the right font for you publications.
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Instructions
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Decide if you prefer serif or sans serif. Serif fonts include Times New Roman and have the little "tail" swooping or hanging off the tips of the letters. Sans serif includes fonts like Arial, which are block letters and have no tail.
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Consider readability. For instance, readers sometimes find Arial-family fonts more difficult to read. Unlike serif fonts such as Times New Roman, sans serif fonts like Arial lack the tail. Without the tail, the letters do not visually "connect" to one another. If you use creative fonts such as Giddy Up (looks like curled ropes) or Glop (looks like glue droppings), you must also pick the font that strikes a balance between look and readability.
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Consider publication venue. For instance, professional magazines require professional-looking fonts like Times New Roman, Arial, Helvetica or Palatino. Creative projects such as children's books or fliers might better utilize creative fonts such as Comic Sans, Giddy Up or Glop.
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Make sure the font licensing fits your budget. Many creative fonts and fonts not in the public domain require customers to pay a licensing fee. As of 2010, licensing fees range from $30 to $100. As an alternative, you can often locate a very similar font on your personal computer for free or purchase a library of fonts between $59 and $89, but you might not get the exact font you want.
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Decide whether the font accommodates enough variations or special characters. When typing, you might use an exclamation point (!) and asterisk (*) or the pound sign (#). You might also use a copyright symbol © or a trademark ®. If you use such symbols, make sure your font contains them. Specialty fonts or creative fonts do not always include specialty characters. If your font does not have a specific symbol, when you type it you will see a square.
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Decide on the "feel" the font gives your publication. Selecting the wrong font can ruin your publication. For instance, a professional publication that uses comic sans will look childish. A creative publication that uses Bookman Old Style might seem stodgy. Compare your publication to other similar publications, and select your font accordingly.
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Determine if the font is true-type or Mac. True Type fonts transfer between Windows-based personal computers. Mac fonts transfer between Macintosh computers. Non-true-type fonts sometimes create problems when you install them on another computer.
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References
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