Typefaces & Terminology

Text

Graham, you’ve chosen a great typeface for the text. A lot of typographers consider Garamond to be the most beautiful typeface ever designed. Jan Tschihold, the guy who gave us the formula for margins we’re using designed a version of Garamond called Sabon, which is considered by many to be the best version of Garamond. To take it further, Sabon LT Next is the best version of that.

If you wanted to make it more English, though, consider using Caslon. The English typographers of old had a saying, “when in doubt, use Caslon.”

They’re both beautiful typefaces.

Other good serif typefaces for text are Baskerville, Minion, Palatino, and Century. Avoid Times. Keep in mind that there are usually multiple versions of typefaces available by different companies and designers. A quick Google for “what is the best Garmond” or something like that will land you on a type forum where people are unusually helpful and strangely civil when encountering a contradictory opinion.

ITC typefaces are generally crap. The x-heights are too high because that was the fashion in the 70s. Using an ITC typeface is like putting bell-bottoms or hot-pants on your text, and not in a good way. The exception is Bodoni. ITC makes a kick-ass Bodoni in three different optical families.

Let’s talk terminology for a moment.

People use the word font when the mean typeface or type family. A font is a single typeface at a single size and weight. For instance, Sabon 10 is one font, while Sabon Bold 10 is another, and Sabon Bold 12 is yet another. The whole group of fonts in every size and weight is called a typeface or type family.

Display

Graham, you’ve done a horrible job choosing your display (heading) typeface. Nadine is poorly kerned, inconsistent in the angles, and a bit goofy. I think I know what you’re going after, but it’s not this.

Choosing a good display typeface is a bit subjective, but not entirely. You can take a Cordon Bleu chef into a hamburger joint and he’ll say “This tastes like crap!.” Meanwhile, Joe 6-pack says, “Whadya mean, you pompous jerk? Tastes great to me. Your Escargo Napoleon is the crap.” They’re both right, but I’ll bet they can both tell the difference between Kobe or Angus and the cardboard they serve at McDonalds.

Unless you’re really experienced I’d stay away from free typefaces. Ironic, huh? They’re (usually) free for a reason, with a few exceptions.

I know you’re set on using a script for a display face, which I’m advising against. I don’t think it’s really going to add much, and they’re hard to read. You’re going to have to choose one that is well designed.

Why don’t you share the few alternatives you’ve found and we can discuss them?