Typography
04 / Font Selection & Combination
Key question
Which font fits?
There are hundreds of thousands of fonts. Finding the right one doesn't mean choosing the most beautiful, but the most suitable: for the content, the medium, the brand, and the budget.
Learning objective: You can select a font based on clear criteria, combine two fonts effectively, and identify the appropriate licence.
Fitting beats pretty.
4.1 / Criteria for Font Selection
Content, medium, scope.
Before making a choice, there is a list of requirements. It provides a sound justification for the decision, including to clients.
01
Content and tone
What does the text convey? Objective, festive, playful, loud or quiet?
02
Medium and size
Poster, book or mobile? Reading distance and size determine the form.
03
Scope and Languages
Are there enough weights, figures and characters for German, French and Italian?
For Swiss projects, it is worth paying attention to the accents: é, è, à, ç and the guillemets must be well-drawn in every weight.
A family is the safest choice.
4.2 / Combining fonts
Contrast or family.
The safest solution is a single font family with multiple weights and styles. If you combine two typefaces, aim for clear contrast: a serif for body text and a sans-serif for titles, or vice versa.
Despite their contrast, good pairings share common ground: a similar x-height, related proportions, or the same era of origin. By contrast, two typefaces that are similar yet not identical just look like a mistake.
Contrast rather than similarity.
4.3 / Licences
Who is allowed to use the font, and where?
Fonts are software and require a licence. This governs where the font may be used: on a computer for print files, as a webfont on a website, in an app, or in an e-book. Pricing is often based on the number of workstations or page views.
Free fonts under the SIL Open Font License can be used almost anywhere. Commercial fonts are available from foundries, including in Switzerland, such as Lineto, Grilli Type, Dinamo, or Swiss Typefaces. Clarify the licence before designing, not just at handover.
Licence first, design later.
Exercise
A typographical concept
Task: Develop a well-reasoned typographic concept for the Theater Rheinufer.
STEP 1
Write a list of requirements: content, media, sizes, languages, budget.
STEP 2
Choose three possible solutions: a family, a contrasting pair, a variation of your choice.
STEP 3
Check each solution in the tool, as well as on a poster and a text page.
STEP 4
For the best solution, clarify the licence for print and website.
Evaluation: Can you justify your choice in three sentences, without saying "I like it"?