How-To’s Day: Graphic Design: Practical Typeface Selection

Mar 31, 2005, 8:05 PM ET

BY Pariah S. Burke

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Choosing the correct typeface (”font” for the uninitiated) is the most important decision in the design of any text-bearing layout. Type is the voice, the emotion behind the words. Choosing an inappropriate typeface changes the meaning of the copy.

That said, type must also be readable. The most eloquent and profound words in the world are rendered mute by a typeface that cannot be read.

If you have used Comic Sans for any design that is not styled after comic art, then you must set aside—nay, uninstall that font—and employ Cameron Moll’s brief but effective technique to select new favorite typefaces.

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