This assignment was to build a type library built on a few staples, fonts that we would be able to use in a broad variety of projects and that might should be able to match nicely together. It should give us a solid foundation of fonts to keep building throughout school and work.
Sonder could fit in my display fonts as well but I chose it as a slab because I think I would use it more for pull quotes or section headers as a general font before a specific title or typographic piece. It’s very sturdy as fonts go and even fits well with the roboto condensed beside it.
Croissant One is a very cute slab serif. Its strokes do not connect fully, leading to an almost handwritten feel. For this reason, it looks really nice beside Sans Serifs and works well for quotes and some headings.
Cooper STD is a slab serif that works well with thinner fonts like Moon and Quicksand. It has an italic version as well that’s pretty well done and I chose it because it’d be a good toss in for those times when you need a bubble-like font but the only thing you can think of is comic sans. It’s well thought-out and adds a good look and feel to any piece.
Nixie One is the only thin slab serif I chose. It works as a slab serif because of the longer serifs, leading to a more styalized look than a serif font with shorter ones. It is more geometric in design as well with no curvatures really to it. I think it could be used sparingly as a body font and pairs well with the display fonts I have chosen.
Quentin is a very lovely handwritten font that just flows across the page. It’s great for when you’re going for a more elegant feel and pairs well with most of the fonts I have chosen here. Its legible and works great for pull-quotes.
Spiffy McGee Lite is a great font for titles and typographic play. It’s ligeratures connect well in a smooth way that keeps readability even in larger pockets of text. I used it for a typography project last year and really enjoyed the way that it paired with serif and sans serifs alike.
Modesty is a bit more stylized than the other handwritten fonts I chose for my capsule library but I like it for that reason. I can only see myself using this font for certain things but it works well as a handwritten font.
Wildera is one of my favourite fonts in this library. Its letters are further spread apart than most fonts in this project and it’s got the longest sprawl out of the handwritten fonts that I chose as well. It’s less decorative than modesty and pairs well with moon and Etna. It works well for pull quotes and I could see myself using it for a title font.
Serif fonts are pretty important for body text. It’s handy to have a few good ones in your inventory for quick work and good ones are important because bad ones can reduce readability and completely change the tone of the text.
Pratt is a font I downloaded over the summer because I found when I looked at it, that I just liked it. I normally don’t download serifs for fun, my eyes are always drawn to display fonts. It’s easily legible when used for body text with its straight edges and kind of clunky cut makes it sort of fun for a vibrant layout. It’s well kerned and pairs well with Spiffy McGee Lite.
Sitka is my favourite of the serif fonts. I really like the short, stubby serifs and the clean look it has when typed out as a paragraph. It reads very well and is kerned just a little bit wider than Pratt. It was initially released as a free font in the Windows 8.1 update and was never really talked about. I only discovered it randomly while searching for fonts for this project myself.
Sitka definitely has a tone to it, due to it’s wide kerning, it’s pretty tranquil and goes well with less clean fonts but also looks amazing with thinner sans-serifs. I placed it beside Quicksand and really liked the result. Playing with the fonts together helped me understand the purpose of the project. For example, now when I quickly need to grab a body and pull-quote font, I know that combination works.
Didot reads a bit like a display font, which is why it wasn’t my favourite when it came to serifs, until I realized it doesn’t technically have to be my body font of choice. The serifs are very thin and delicate, elegant in nearly every way. However, the thinness does damage readability when used as a body font. It’s characterized by thick lines on the side of the bowls, with thin lines on bottom and top. The descender and ascender lines are thin while the descender pieces themselves are full and round. It pairs nicely with Wildera and Fira Sans.
Garamond is a good, safe choice when it comes to serif fonts. It spreads itself out nicely for readability and has a good, strong look to it. I think it looks nice beside pretty much all the fonts I have chosen and therefore, it’s a good one to have in my capsule library. While a few of these really only look good beside one or two other fonts, it’s not the case for Garamond. It’s the least stylized of the serifs here.
Fira Sans is the font that I used in my magazine project last year for my body font across all the pages. I found that it printed well because of it’ thickness and slight curvatures. Because of its undecorative nature, it pairs well with most of the display fonts. It works well with Neptune and then pairs well with Nixie One from my chosen slab-serifs.
Roboto Condensed is a pretty comfortable sans-serif as it kind of just does exactly what you’d expect. It’s a good plain font to have in the library as it will pair well with most fonts in an emergency. In particular, I really like how it pairs with Pratt.
Avenir was chosen because I just think it’s a handy one to keep around. It contrasts well with tighter fonts and I particularly like it with Quentin as a title font. It’s geometric in design and wider all around with wider kerning. It has sharp edges and is even in thickness, making it pleasing to the eye.
Quicksand works well for pull quotes and is slightly decorative as a sans serif due to its quiet flourishes, such as the tail on the capital ‘Q’. It also features tighter tails on the lowercase ‘g’ and ‘y’ that hug the bowl tighter. It’s spaced well and is very legible, comfortable for the eye. It looks gorgeous with Sitka and Moon.
Etna was a font that I originally chose as a display font and then placed into sans serif. I did this because when typed out, it makes for an excellent, plain header in any work. It pairs well with Pratt, Modesty and Surfing Capitol.
Surfing Capitol is a free font that I found last spring while working on my magazine. I love it because it’s a really gorgeous watercolour font with a built-in texture and despite it being rather stylized, it works well in a number of places. I’ve since used it for a portfolio and a birthday card for a friend. It’s easy to work with and pairs well with thicker, slab-like fonts.
Petal is a cleaner brush font that I found over the past week. It’s actually the first font that I’ve ever bought and I fell in love with it instantly. It’s an ink font with a water-colour feel to it but it has a bit more form to it than surfing capitol. It works well for softer projects and has a bit more ambiguity to it, making it useful for more projects. I found that it pairs well with Moon and Garamond.
Moon is one of my favourite display fonts. It’s geometric and tends to look lovely with just about any font as well due to it’s cleanliness. It works well as a second header and its simplicity tends to balance out a project.
Neptune is an extremely fun display font and I’m not sure where I’ll use it but I know that I 100% want to. It looks lovely there below moon and I can see myself using it for a stylized layout with a good, clean body text.
Colors of Autumn was originally placed with my handwritten fonts but it’s all caps made me place it with my display fonts. It’s been one of my favourite fonts for at least three years and due to it’s edginess, it adds flavour to almost any project. It’s always been my default go to for titles and has a special place in my heart.
