CHAPTER 9 The Next Steps for Web Typography
work on. Don’t think that famous designers use tons of different typefaces.
On the contrary, if you compare their most successful projects, they all use
a limited selection of fonts.
It will not be uncommon for you — or any designer for that matter
— to end up using fonts from the same foundry or type designer over
and over again, because the familiar underlying structure of respective
glyphs along with the common DNA will probably best fit your personal
typesetting style.
Managing a font library would be a pain without font management
software like Fontcase^44 or Linotype FontExplorer X Pro^45. Once you classi-
fy fonts in your library, previewing and testing them should be relatively
straightforward. Suffice to say, create a backup of your preference files!find inspiration
Train yourself to spot and recognize typographic patterns. Everywhere
we go, we carry our smartphones, so take photos of any interesting typog-
raphy you spot on the street, in libraries or in book stores. Other valuable
sources of inspiration are printed newspapers, fashion magazines or leaf-
lets found in hotel lobbies. Collect each one you see and write a comment
about why you took it on a Post-it note. Still not carrying a block of Post-its
on your trips? Here’s an incentive to start doing so.
Last, but not least, purchase as many specimens as you can and sub-
scribe to every typographic newsletter out there. Over time, you will have a
pretty nice reference full of proven and reusable type combinations created
by experienced designers and typographers. One autobiographical piece of
advice, a form of nostalgia if you will — be extra careful not to be caught
drooling over the legs of some rational serif or displaying the beaming
smile of a first-time kisser while touching engraved stationery.44 http://www.bohemiancoding.com/fontcase/
45 http://www.fontexplorerx.com