This could be as simple as adjusting the weight, the size or the colour of the same typeface – but when the typefaces vary, careful font pairing is crucial. It's important that as a designer, you establish a clear hierarchy. You don't often find that similar serifs or similar sans serifs look particularly nice next to each other. If typefaces are too similar, it's likely they will conflict. Moreoftenthannot, you would normally pair a serif font with a sans serif font to achieve the perfect contrast. Contrasting fonts are hard to find as you are searching for two fonts that are totally different but also complement each other. You just have to find a 'super-family' of fonts, and you'll already have all the weights, styles and classifications designed specifically to work perfectly together - how handy is that?Ī good super-family will include serif and a sans serif version of the same typeface: famous examples include Lucida/Lucida Sans and Meta/Meta Sans. The best way to find the perfect font pairings to by using fonts within the same overarching typeface family.
Feel free to get inspired by also checking out our comprehensive list of the best free fonts around. You can dive straight into looking through our best font pairing examples and gather up some inspiration or read on to find out our top tips. That's right, we have created a guide of some of the best font pairings to exists, as well as rounding up some useful tips to help you choose your own font pairings.
However, as useful as an old adage can be, you sometimes need a little more help, and that's where we come in.
So if you keep finding yourself stuck with trying to choose the perfect font combinations, then just think of this old adage: "concord or contrast, but don't conflict."
In an ideal world, choosing two fonts that complement each other without battling for attention would be easy, right? But in the real world, designers are often faced with having to choose the ideal font pairings. It's not easy finding the perfect font pairings for you.