A font menu is the kind of trap you want to avoid if you’re new to graphic design. There are a ton of options in them. Some are interesting. And it’s easy to scroll past dozens of font families until you finally find one you think has enough creativity to it. Unfortunately, a poster or social graphic rarely gets easier to read just because it includes more fonts. In fact, some of the first designs you create will become easier to read when you trim down your type choices, and make sure each font serves a particular purpose.
Limiting your design to a couple of fonts is a great option. It offers just enough variety to keep the design lively but also prevents you from spreading them out like a mixed bag. The first font should carry your headline; where you need more flair and presence. The other should carry the rest of your content: subtitle, paragraph, or small captions. This can give your work clarity as it helps viewers separate information by what serves as your opening, and what explains it.
A good rule of thumb is to pick a font with a more distinct character, along with another with a more neutral feel. One will have a wider presence: bold weight, condensed or extended letterforms, distinctive letterforms. The other will be the font you read easily at a smaller scale: more neutral and legible, well-spaced letters and words. If both fonts feel decorative, you risk having a messy design. If they are too similar, you may get a lack of hierarchy. The two fonts work better when each fills the other’s gap with contrasting features.
Make a new canvas and add a simple headline, a one line sentence as your subhead and 3 lines or so of copy. Apply your first font in headline size, then the other font in the body copy and subhead size. Ignore color, ignore images. Look only at the fonts. Does the headline look like where a reader should start? Does the subtitle look like an easy-to-read sentence that also doesn’t compete with the headline? Is the body copy quiet enough that it doesn’t distract the design? This quick test trains your eyes to evaluate the combination of two fonts without getting distracted by the rest of the graphic.
Size and spacing matter as much as the fonts themselves. Even the best combinations can look weird if the headline is too similar to the subheading in size and if the body text looks tightly spaced, without any breathing room in between. Size the headline more, so it has a more prominent role in the size spectrum. If the paragraph is too tightly spaced, increase its line height. Ensure that your text area has margin padding and is not too close to the image, icon or canvas edge. This kind of spacing often makes a pair of fonts look more deliberate.
Color can make your fonts look easier or harder to work with. A font with a strong or unusual presence doesn’t need to be given a high-value color. Low contrast on the smaller text can also make it harder to read. It doesn’t necessarily matter how simple the font is when you try to read it. Use a low-contrast color for the body text and limit other colors to where you need a bit of extra emphasis. This way, the fonts don’t end up disconnected, and everything stays in line with the overall structure of the image.
When you are deciding between two fonts, change only the type, and not the layout, the body copy, the image choice or the color palette. Evaluate the design from a large and thumbnail size. In small size, the letters aren’t that important, only the flow of content. The headline still needs to be read first, along with the body copy. This small test will make the design feel easier to understand with your type pairing, or harder.
The two fonts you choose are not necessarily going to be the strangest fonts in a font menu. They are the fonts that make your content more inviting to read, easier to read, and easier to remember. Once the headline draws the eye and the rest of the text looks comfortable to read, the design will start to feel much more organized. It might be subject to a bit of tweaking, but your type will be easier to read.