What is your favorite font combinations?

[KathyJMoore]

I have to admit I am a bit font challenged. I understand font types (sans and sans serif), and that by picking contrasting ones you can make interesting and effective titles. I have FontViewer installed and have sorted out all of my fonts, but I am still having a lot of trouble coming up with combinations I think look good, so I am turning to you for some ideas and inspiration.

[Debbyo]

I like combining some of Ali Edwards words with Katie's alphas. They look so much more interesting than anything that I cook up. Altho I do like the grungy fonts.

[Jen D]

I'm not great at that either... I tend to pull ideas form the gallery.

[LoriS]

oh my... i'm a font addict..... couldn't name just a few.... have TOO MANY favorites... Espionage, Ali's hand, Suzie's hand, Dear Joe, Snoeshoe, pea missy cursive, birth of a hero, 28 days later, stampete, oh finding them is half the FUN! those are just from memory... i'd have to look through all my fonts....

[Cassie Jones (1gr8muggle)]

Basically, I try not to mix two of any similar type. So no two serifs, two sans serif, two script, or two handwritten fonts on a single page. I also limit myself to one or two fonts and never more than three.

[anxela]

What Cassie said. And take a look at Cathy Zielske's templates. Some great inspiration there. Some other things to think about - which complements what Cassie said - try to make contrast with your type. (But you already know that...) Put a script with a sans serif, or a big, bold serif with a light-weight, small sans serif. That kind of things. Or use just one font with various weights. Man, I'm feel like I'm reading loud from one of CZ's books.

Sans serif go-to fonts: Avenir, Helvetica, Interstate. Arial if you're on Windows.
Serif go-to fonts: Times New Roman. Slab serifs: Archer (pricey) and Caecilia (less expensive)
Script font: Segoe Print (handwriting), Amelie (the one CZ uses a lot in her templates ) Love these, but in small doses.

Courier is a favorite, too. I also love alphas, but I often find it easier just to type my title with a font

Theory says you should use serifs for type you want to print and sans serifs for type on the web if you want the best readability. But, of course, no rules in scrapbooking!

[KathyJMoore]

Originally Posted by anxela

What Cassie said. And take a look at Cathy Zielske's templates. Some great inspiration there. Some other things to think about - which complements what Cassie said - try to make contrast with your type. (But you already know that...) Put a script with a sans serif, or a big, bold serif with a light-weight, small sans serif. That kind of things. Or use just one font with various weights. Man, I'm feel like I'm reading loud from one of CZ's books.

Sans serif go-to fonts: Avenir, Helvetica, Interstate. Arial if you're on Windows.
Serif go-to fonts: Times New Roman. Slab serifs: Archer (pricey) and Caecilia (less expensive)
Script font: Segoe Print (handwriting), Amelie (the one CZ uses a lot in her templates ) Love these, but in small doses.

Courier is a favorite, too. I also love alphas, but I often find it easier just to type my title with a font

Theory says you should use serifs for type you want to print and sans serifs for type on the web if you want the best readability. But, of course, no rules in scrapbooking!

That is very helpful, thank you. I will check out the fonts. After yesterday and my mad hunt for a H with a hipster type flourish rather than an overly ornate one I am pretty frustrated with fonts

[anxela]

Have you checked out One Fell Swoop and Porcelain? I'm not sure I totally understand what you're after... Or you could make your own H by extending it with a flourish... Ma Sexy could be a good starting point if you decide to do that. Or Lainie Day SH.

[KathyJMoore]

The short answer is I am going to make a list.

Why I am making a list:

I am not an artistic person, nor am I a visual person, meaning my imagination has never produced an image - EVER.

I have to start with something in order to produce something, so I use templates, the Internet, and pages posted in galleries.

I used a bunch of Katie’s clusters on a series of pages, but none of the premade clusters with words were what I needed, so I went on the hunt for that modern, but graceful feeling font. I ended up going with Lucinda Handwriting, but was not happy because that font just does not have that graceful elegance like the one she used:




I used the above word art by Bethany as an example for the title I did on this page .

I just could not find a font with the curves I was looking for. I tried many combinations and liked none of them.

Therefore I am going to develop a time saving list of font combinations I like, and use that list until I either improve at selecting fonts on the fly, or get tired of it and make a new one.

So far I my list is pretty short:
1) Texas Hero and You Are Loved

Wish I would have thought of just adding a flourish to the H. I have a ton of them, and that would have been faster than searching through 600 fonts.

I will play with the suggestions from here later this week.

Thanks.

[anxela]

Try Zapfino

[cheska99]

Originally Posted by LoriS

oh my... i'm a font addict..... couldn't name just a few.... have TOO MANY favorites... Espionage, Ali's hand, Suzie's hand, Dear Joe, Snoeshoe, pea missy cursive, birth of a hero, 28 days later, stampete, oh finding them is half the FUN! those are just from memory... i'd have to look through all my fonts....

A lot of these are among myfaves, too.

[cheska99]

Have you looked at Scriptina? Very flow-y.

[cheska99]

Designers I know seem to draw a line between "real" type and "fake" type. In a nutshell, not all fonts are equal by any means. Some are real classics in the design world, and designers tend to use these more, I notice, than they do the rougher ones. (Sorry about calling one of these classes of fonts, "fake," but that's what DH calls them, and I don't know another word for it.) Examples of classics abound: Bodoni, Garamond, Goudy, etc.

[KathyJMoore]

Originally Posted by anxela

Try Zapfino

and at $30.00 not too bad. Thank you!

[KathyJMoore]

Originally Posted by cheska99

Have you looked at Scriptina? Very flow-y.

and free
Thanks!

[KathyJMoore]

Originally Posted by anxela

Have you checked out One Fell Swoop and Porcelain? I'm not sure I totally understand what you're after... Or you could make your own H by extending it with a flourish... Ma Sexy could be a good starting point if you decide to do that. Or Lainie Day SH.

I have most of them, and tried them. I think I may have figured out what the issue is. Some of the script fonts are so stylized that at least in my mind where they can be used is pretty limited. I will look at Lainie Day SH.
Thanks for the suggestion.

[maureenreynolds]

Here's a great article from a house with gorgeous fonts.Ask H&FJ: Four Ways to Mix Fonts

[KathyJMoore]

Originally Posted by maureenreynolds

Here's a great article from a house with gorgeous fonts.Ask H&FJ: Four Ways to Mix Fonts

Thank you. Most of the articles I have seen on the Internet about font combinations or pairings are written for desktop publishing. Although they contain great information they do not address the word art aspect of digital scrapbooking.
I am not really trying to make “word Art,” but I don’t want boring titles anymore either.

[dbonneville]

You could look at these 2 articles:

19 top fonts in 19 top combinations
14 Top Typeface and Font Combinations Resources

They do focus on desktop publishing but the principles are applicable to any graphic design project.

I have some interest on my site from scrapbookers, but I know little about it at a non-scrapbooker. I have a book coming out later 2010 which will be a reference for combining fonts with lots of examples. Would a book like this be useful in the scrapbooking community?

I see "word art" being discussed. A book I would do would not have word art of course, but "word art" is still based on individual fonts. Is the goal for scrapbookers to find nice handwritten or script-based fonts to combine with normal serif or sans-serif fonts?

[maureenreynolds]

One other suggestion that is often given is to use the basic font and then add something else on the page with the Italic, Bold or some of the other 'siblings' that come in the more expensive font families. Using a flourishy first letter for the first word is often enough to make it pop.

[2girlsandapoodle]

fonts are one of my f.a.v.o.u.r.i.t.e. things! i am sure there are some design-er-ly rules about this, but i don't pay much attention to any. i just go with the flow! i know that isn't helpful advice in any way, except only in that you can do whatever it is that pleases you. i routinely use multiple fonts per page and LOVE using multiple fonts and alphas in a title. 3 is a nice number, i also have also used 6, and more! i don't really have any go-to, used over and over combos. i just play.

it does help me to think about the meaning of my word, or the emotion i want to evoke. where do i want emphasis in the phrase? and then, how best to display that emphasis. it's not always the scripty font that's the attention getter.

sometimes font-hunting-and-gathering is an activity all it's own, and then they're waiting when i want to use them next.

and, i agree - cruising the galleries and looking specifically at font combinations and usage is a good idea!