GD Toolkit Summary Notes - Lesson 5

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Combining Type
Factors for Combining Type
Contrast or differentiation (body text plus headline text). If Body Text is Serif, then for contrast look for something
like a Sans Serif for headlines.
Most projects don’t need more than two Typefaces.
When combining Typefaces consider their basic characteristics:
• Similar Historical Period with different features may work well
• Typefaces from the same designer.
• Maybe choose very opposite Typefaces, one traditional and sober, the other, friendly and warm.
• Typefaces with similar Body Height can work well as long as their styles are contrasting.
A common mistake is combining Typefaces that are too individual, they have strong stylistic details so they conflict.
If you find it necessary to add a third typeface, Slab Serifs can work well. Can be good to separate content and make
it stand out from the other text elements.
Think of choosing types as getting dressed or putting an outfit together. Too many complex patterns will clash, they
should complement each other, so one simple piece and one complex piece will work a lot better.
There are no hard rules but let good taste be your guide.
WEIGHT
The weight of a typeface plays a huge role in its appearance. We often think of weight in terms of “light”, “regular”,
“medium”, “bold”, etc. But different typefaces have varying weights to begin with. Combining typefaces based
largely on weight is a fairly straight-forward way of creating typographic contrast.
STYLE
The style of a typeface has a huge impact on how it’s received. Generally, when working with styles, you’re going
to be either using regular or italic styles. Other decorations include things like outlines or drop shadows, both of
which can be used to unify varying typefaces.
Style and decoration can also be used to create contrast within a type family or typeface. Combine regular and
italic fonts, varying weights, and things like shadows or outlines to create variation within a font family and
sufficient typographic contrast.
CLASSIFICATION
In general, when combining typefaces, you’ll want to choose ones that aren’t from the same classification.
Combine a serif and a sans-serif, or a serif and a script, etc., and you’ll have a much easier time coming up with a
combination that has proper contrast and doesn’t clash.
One trick is to choose typefaces that are in the same general classification, but fall under different sub-classes
(such as a slab serif and a modern serif, or a geometric sans serif with a grotesk). This provides more contrast right
from the start.