The curve, openness, and spacing of a font are actual design elements and convey a look and feel. It’s important to choose a typeface that fits the design of the rest of your communication piece.
Readability is key for body text. Why pick a fancy font to be different if no one can read what you are saying? Typically, serif fonts score higher readability marks. A serif is a small line or “tail” at the end of the main strokes of a letter. Times Roman is an example of a serif font. Arial is an example of a sans-serif (no tail) font.
Each font family has many varieties—bold, italic, light, extra light, and more. But, everything does NOT have to be the same font. You can use one font for headlines and subheads and a completely different font family for body text. Caution: Too many fonts in the same piece can get busy.
If you operate in the design lane of workforce communication or marketing, you may want to know more about font innovations, changes, and trends. Here are nine of the most exciting typography trends of 2020 and how they are used in design.