When I do type studies, I try to make a list (mentally or on paper) of as many descriptive words as possible. Similar to Erin, I make my selection based on the message I'm trying to communicate. Each typeface has a different personality, history and emotion behind it. So I take my list and compare it with the typefaces that fits that description. From there I choose about 4 or 5 to print out. I usually narrow down the selection after applying the typefaces to a couple of components. The rest is just developing a good eye. If you spend time looking for and learning about quality typefaces––you'll be able to figure out what works and what doesn't, a lot quicker. I love typography is a great site to start with.
I finally broke down and bought FontExplorer (a font management system)––and it kind of changed my life. Instead of going through all 120,000 fonts, I can create a labeling system that will do all of the work for me. Everything is organized how I like it! So I can easily search for some of the words that may be in my list.
I buy most of my fonts from myfonts.com. They have sales weekly. I'm all about the bargain. They own a site for identifying fonts called "What the font." When I'm pinching pennies, I look at smashing magazine's post about high-quality free fonts. That usually leads me to some great sites. I used dafont.com in undergrad, I'm a lot wiser now :)
No comments:
Post a Comment