Best Practices of Combining Typefaces

Douglas Bonneville

Creating great typeface combinations is an art, not a science. Indeed, the
beauty of typography has no borders. While there are no absolute rules to
follow, it is crucial that you understand and apply some best practices when
combining fonts in a design. When used with diligence and attention, these
principles will always yield suitable results. Today we will take a close look at
some the best practices for combining typefaces as well as some

blunders to avoid.

Combine a Sans Serif with a Serif

By far the most popular principle for creating typeface combinations is to
pair a sans serif header typeface with a serif body typeface. This is a classic
combination, and it՚s almost impossible to get wrong.

In the example below — a typical article layout — we have Trade Gothic
Bold No.2 paired with Bell Gothic on the left side. They are both sans serif
typefaces. However, they have very different personalities.

A good rule of thumb, when it comes to header and body copy design
problems, is not to create undue attention to the personality of each font.
Trade Gothic is arguably a no-nonsense typeface. Bell Gothic, on the other
hand, is much more dynamic and outspoken.