Written words are a universal language, allowing for connection and interaction between people anywhere in the world. Whether someone is interacting via WhatsApp, emails, or social media, they will inevitably be writing something. Learning the various fonts and styles used for writing can help you engage with your audience more effectively and enhance your writing experience.
The world of fonts is vast and varied, giving you hundreds, if not thousands, of options to choose from. Learning which font is best suited to your purpose can be a challenge, though, and it’s a question of finding the right one for you.
The Dangers of Choosing The Wrong Font
Let’s be honest, at some point or another, we’ve all fallen for the romance of a beautiful font. Unfortunately, the danger in this case is that you might choose a different font for each and every single piece of writing you do. After all, they’re all so beautiful!
The problem with this approach is that it can quickly overwhelm you. You will undoubtedly be tempted to use these fonts for every other document you create, especially if they are free. The beauty of a font is that it is consistent, which makes learning and using it much easier. If you use a different font for every single piece of writing you do, it will inevitably start to feel unnatural and even a little bit boring. You’re better off sticking to a single type of font and using it throughout your career as a writer. Otherwise, you might end up with a complete mess of inconsistent fonts that will only confuse your readers.
Use The Right Metrics
A font’s metrics have everything to do with how it is displayed onscreen. These include things like the height, weight, and width of each letter, as well as the spaces in between them. The metric of a font is usually expressed in points; a point represents a specific size of a typeface, and there are 72 points in an inch. In most cases, your lettering will be expressed in pixels. For example, if you’re looking at this text on a 15-inch display, the font’s point size will be around 12 pixels. In this case, the font’s metrics are 12 points x 12 points x 12 points (3 inches x 3 inches x 3 inches).
When choosing a font, work with what your reader will see. If you’re creating content for the web, your best bet is to use a browser extension like Font Optimizer or Google Fonts to test your chosen fonts out. This way, you can be sure that your chosen font will look the same to your readers as it does on your screen.
Know When To Go Big Or Small
When you’re choosing a font, you have two options: you can either go big or small. Going big is what most people do, choosing fonts that are bold, clear, and easy to read. Going small is a bit of a risky game, choosing fonts that are delicate, almost childlike in their simplicity.
In most cases, you will want to go big. Bolder fonts are often considered more prestigious, so if you want to write a scholarly piece, using a small font might give the impression that you aren’t really taking the effort to learn or use another language. It’s unlikely that anyone would think that your writing is condescending just because you used a small font, but it’s always better to be safe than sorry!
Be Creative
Choosing the right font for your purpose doesn’t have to be as difficult as you might think. There are endless ways that you can use fonts to enhance your writing. For example, you can use large, bold fonts for headlines and smaller, more agile fonts for the body of your articles. You can also use color to highlight certain words or phrases. Ultimately, it’s all about knowing how and when to use various fonts to create the best possible effect.