Typography
Typefaces have voices. Choose the voice that fits, then pair it with a calm partner.
Learn
Typography is the art of choosing and arranging letters. Every typeface (a full set of letters with one style) speaks in its own voice: the same word can whisper, shout, joke or give orders, just by changing its costume.
Meet the families
Serif. Has tiny feet at the ends of letters. Feels classic and trustworthy. Lives in: books, newspapers, museums.
Sans-serif. No feet ("sans" means without). Clean and modern. Lives in: apps, websites, road signs.
Script. Joined-up like handwriting. Feels fancy or friendly. Lives in: invitations, greeting cards, cafés.
Condensed. Tall, narrow, squeezed letters. Feels strong and urgent. Lives in: sports jerseys, headlines, posters.
Decorative. Chunky and loud, built to grab you. Lives in: circus posters, comics, candy wrappers.
Thin. Light lines, air between letters. Feels calm and expensive. Lives in: spas, perfume, fashion.
Rounded. Soft, bouncy corners. Feels playful and safe. Lives in: toys, juice boxes, kids' apps.
Monospace. Every letter takes the same width, like a typewriter. Feels techy. Lives in: computer code, tickets, robots.
Spot the feet
Serif: see the little feet where the strokes end? They come from stone carving, thousands of years ago.
Sans-serif: the same letter with the feet shaved off. Smooth and simple.
Which voice for which job?
Match the feeling of the typeface to the feeling of the message:
- Birthday card → script or rounded: warm and personal
- Sports poster → CONDENSED: strong and fast
- Bank or library → serif: serious and trusted
- App or road sign → sans-serif: instantly readable
- Spa or perfume → THIN: quiet luxury
- Funfair → decorative: pure fun
A bank whispering in circus letters, or a funfair shouting in bank letters, feels instantly wrong. That wrongness is the typeface voice mismatching the message.
The two big rules
- Use at most two typefaces per design: one expressive voice for headings, one calm voice for everything else
- Make the heading clearly bigger than the body; size contrast helps both get read
Wrong vs right
Seen in the wild
Open a novel: the type does quiet, careful work on every page.
The map was older than the town itself, drawn in an ink that had faded to the colour of weak tea. Mira spread it across the kitchen table and weighted the corners with spoons.
"It's not a treasure map," her brother said, peering over her shoulder. "It's worse. It's homework."
1 2 3- 1The chapter heading uses an expressive serif; the book's one decorative voice.
- 2Body text is calm, generous with line spacing, and easy to read for hours. That's the partner voice.
- 3The running head is tiny, spaced-out capitals; present, but nearly invisible. Two typefaces cover the entire book.
Practice
Drag the pieces into place