Picking suitable Typefaces & Fonts can cause a lot of creatives to get stuck! We’re here to help with our Type Tip Series where we’ll take you from a beginner to a Pro! Let’s start with the three Type features your chosen brand font must have.

Before we start – missed a part of our Type Tips Series? Catch up below.

• Where did the term Uppercase and Lowercase come from?
• What are the different Typeface Categories?
• Type Crimes on your Website (are you committing any of these?)

Font Family

If you’re trying to decide on a typeface, choosing one that’s part of a Font Family is always best. Doing so allows all the elements of that family to work together to offer a variety of options.

A Font Family is made up of three Type Features:

1. Type Weights.
2. Type Widths.
3. Type Slopes (Italics).

Type Features 1 – Type Weights

As a general rule and to make things easier:

• When choosing a typeface, look for a large selection of type weights.
•  Including – Light, Regular, Semi-Bold, Bold & Extra Bold.
• These different weights start with thin strokes to thick & chunky.
• Various weights allow you to create a hierarchy between headings, sub-headings and body copy.

Typeface Examples

• A tremendous free font option = Open Sans or Playfair Display from Google Fonts.
• Or a paid font option = ITC Franklin Gothic or Myriad. Or visit Adobe Fonts.

Type Features 2 – Type Widths

The “width” refers to the left-to-right space (also known as horizontal) a typeface letter takes up.

Widths can be:
– Narrow e.g. Condensed  – takes up less space.
– Common e.g. Regular.
– Wide e.g. Extended. – takes up more space.

Insider Tip

Next time you want to stretch out your text, look for an “extended” type width of that font.

Typeface Examples
Univers and Chronicle have a large selection of Type widths.

Type Features 3 – Type Slopes

If you’re unaware of Type Slopes, you may be more familiar with its other name – Italics or Oblique.

Italic

• Italic letters appear angled to the right.
• Slightly more rounded than oblique.
• Italics can be found in Regular and Bold Weights.
• They are used for emphasis.
• Or to state the name of something, such as a concert, exhibition, movie, play, report, song, T.V. program, the title of a book or a work of art.

Italic Typeface Examples

• A tremendous free font option = Open Sans or Playfair Display from Google Fonts.
• Or a paid font option = ITC Franklin Gothic or Myriad. Or visit Adobe Fonts.

Oblique

• A slanted version of the Roman typeface.
• Popular options include – Baskerville, Times New Roman & Garamond.

You did it!

That’s a wrap on – Before you pick your Brand Font, ensure it has these three features!

Now you understand the importance of Type Weights, Widths and Slopes – you also know the secret recipe to picking the perfect font family. In the meantime, keep following along with our Type Tip series, where we’ll take you from a beginner to a pro in no time!

Where to Now?

Want more Font insider tips and techniques? Check out the below.

1. What are the different Typeface Categories?
2. Our 5 Favourite Google Font Pairings for your website.
3. How to Update Master Fonts in Showit.

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