We (designers) are a lucky bunch really, we all get to use these fantastic fonts that other designers and typographers have slaved over, to add a quality finish to our work that wouldn’t be possible without them. I appreciate my fonts; it’s too easy to take them for granted, so I wanted to feature a post giving credit to those that I use the most. You can probably get a good sense of which fonts I like simply by looking through my work, but here’s a bit more detail.
I know what you are going to say, this is the Apple font and using it is a cop out because you are just copying Apple’s design style. I agree with you on a certain level, but then I think so what, this font appeals to me in so many ways, it’s clear, modern, professional and works in so many situations. In my opinion it would be a shame to ignore it, so I don’t and neither should you.
My favourite web font of the moment, followed closely by Verdana. I wanted something different to use for my blog when I redesigned it earlier this year and it is tough to be different when it comes to web fonts because the list of universally supported ‘web safe’ fonts is very, very small. I decided upon Lucida Sans because it is different and it’s also a chilled font, easy to read and not too formal.
My second best web font, the best way for me to describe why I like Verdana is its ultra clear concise typography, perfect for websites, product descriptions, navigation menus etc. I would say users don’t notice this font, but not in a bad way, it is because they can’t see the font for the text, they are reading the text so effortlessly they don’t notice what font it is.
This font is my favourite ‘Eroded’ or ‘Worn’ font, to me it represents old print but also still manages to add a modern style if that makes sense. There are other popular ‘Worn’ fonts but some of them can be too worm and unreadable. I use this font when I can’t really find a font that matches, it is versatile that way and stands out at the same time.
My best ‘Hand Written’ font by far. Hand writing fonts have to look believable but not a mess and this one does it for me. Some look too messy, almost trying too hard to be hand written, as if a 4 year old scribbled it down. Christopher Hand is realistic, readable and works well with photography and tag lines.
My choice when it comes to ‘Script’ fonts. I don’t really use calligraphy much in my designs but this font stands out because it combines an old looking font with realistic calligraphic curves, it really looks like someone dipped the pen in ink and just let it glide over the paper to reveal this amazing looking text.
What are you favourite fonts?