Typography in design: combination and use

We have already talked about “Web design trends for WordPress.” In fact, if anyone has not seen it yet, I recommend that you watch the video of Ricardo Prieto at the Word Camp. But, stop talking about WordPress, and let’s see our beloved typefaces!

Thanks to one of my Christmas presents, a Typodarium, I am discovering great fonts of new artists, but I will talk about them another day because today is the time to open-source fonts like Google Fonts.

I am sure you know a lot about Google Fonts, as it is one of the largest source fonts in the world (it contains about 630 fonts), and it is free and convenience for using in web designs. That is why it is the favorite source fonts of SiloCreativo, but as we shall see in future articles this is not the only one.

Thus, today I am sharing with you some of the Google Fonts we usually use at SiloCreativo. Thi is our Top Ten (it will be updated soon.)

Can we use any font for different design elements?

Before beginning, you should recall the main distinction between paragraph text and title. In the case of a graphic pattern, it will depend in most instances on the same character and creative license. If this does not distinguish between paragraph and titles, you can use fonts freely.

In web or editorial works, normally a font used for paragraphs can be also used for titles but, in most cases, it cannot be reversed. In this way, when we use fonts for titles, we look for creative and original fonts to distinguish us from the rest. However, when we use fonts for paragraph, readability is paramount. Nothing else matters. If the font is the one we were looking for, but it is not legible, we must discard it for paragraphs and even maybe for titles. Readability is a sine qua non condition for texts whose function is continuous reading.

Anyway, we are talking about general guidelines. As I mentioned before, it depends on the creative freedom and the nature of the text.

Top 3 SiloCreativo: Fonts for paragraph texts

However, it does not mean that the number of fonts that meet this condition is limited. We can find, only in Google Fonts, over a hundred fonts that we can use for paragraph text. Today, we show you three that we like for their versatility (some of them you maybe know) with examples that verify their readability.

Roboto: as I said in the article of font combinations, Roboto has a large family that allows us to make a lot of different combinations with different characters. You can see the clearest example on our website, in which we use Roboto for paragraph text and Roboto Slab for titles.

Lato: It is one of the most used fonts for paragraph texts. Its structure is similar to Roboto, but this one is rounder. It highlights its elegance and simplicity. An example of its use is on our WordPress template Livia.

Open sans: If you think of a standard font, which can be used in various families of documents (web, editorial ….,) it could be open sans. Its simplicity within its originality makes it one of the most downloaded and used fonts in website works. There is an example on our WordPress template Real Space.

Top 3 SiloCreativo: Fonts for titles and graphic designs

In the case of the title text, we can increases creative freedom. Readability is relegated to the background. What we want is to attract attention and distinguish us from the rest. In fact, there are typefaces with which we can make graphic images, computer graphics and signage, filling them with content. This Google Font group is very large; almost any typeface can help us for the title. You just need to choose the one that best suits your needs and matches others.

Pacifico regular: This is the font we use to wish you a Merry Christmas at SiloCreativo. His thick and casual line is perfect (especially in small letters) to make graphic images, logos and titles.

Medula one: Since I discovered it, I have become a great user of this font. With a casual air in the moldings on the line, but also a serious undertone, it is perfect for titles. You can see it on our November calendar and also on our article “Inglis Pitinglis.”

Monoton: This is the most disco and eighties font. This one is perfect to make complete graphic works. The example of it is on our WordPress theme Music Hall and our February calendar.

I know there are a lot of fonts I haven’t mentioned… over 100! But do not worry because I will talk about them in following articles.

Which one do you prefer?