Rules for Successful Font Pairing

 If you're baffled about how to combine different fonts harmoniously, you're not alone!

There's some confusion that stems from good font-combo rules. WHy there are not "hard adn fast" rules, there are some general guidelines you should try to abide by as a graphic artist, even if you're a blogger like me, and you're using a tool like Canva or Picmonkey to crank out your graphics.

First Guideline: Keep to a maximum of 3 fonts per graphic.

That's right - any more than 3 and you run into too-busy territory. ALso if you have a website, the same concept applies. I would choose a specific font for the logo, and if you want it can be a little fancy. A second one for the h tags (the headings on yoru website - you'll know as they are marked with "h2" "h3" etc.  And a thrid font - the body text.  I don't know if this is a "golden rule" but it should be! I knwo one of my first blogs looked a little wonky with the text now I have streamlined it and it looks much better now.

Second Guideline: Use San-Serif fonts only for Body text and Serif fonts for Headings

"Serif" fonts are great, classical and elegant looking, but the trouble is that little flanged end on the letters can be troubleshome for smaller body text. Especially when you think about multiple paragrphs for it. It can cause eyestrain and not a good UX so something to think about when you choose fonts for your website and blog.

Of course, if you are just embellishing a photo for a meme, and you only need one font,, this is open-ended!

Third Guideline: : Sometimes opposites attract (italic-regular, etc.)

I would try to avoid all the fonts being too much exactly alike, for example, take a simple San-serif modern one like Veranda, ad pair it up with another too-similar one like Open Sans, it will not have standout appeal to visitors. Something like Veranda would go well with a simple script style  or Italic  which will draw the eye in a different direction.

Also, Tall fonts can look good alongside scripts, and big, blocky fonts ("Luckiest Guy" comes to mind) should be teamed up with a simpler thin "buddy" like architect's Daughter.  It's not always easy to come up with good font-mates, luckily, some of these platforms have some good articles for you to read more on the subject, and maybe even suggest some good combos? Also , check out the templates offered on them. 

They have all been pre-selected so you can see what a good combo looks like, and have one already to work with, thus saving you time. Woot!

That's it for now, happy designing!!