Choosing Fonts · Page 6 of 7
Try it: pairing lab
Put the pairing rules to work. Mix and match heading and body fonts until you can see what makes a good pair.
Choose a heading font and a body font. Try a pair that should work, like Oswald + Merriweather, and one that shouldn’t, like EB Garamond + Libre Baskerville. Where do your eyes go first? Do the two fonts feel like they belong to the same project?
The Riverside Market
Open Saturdays, May through October
Fresh berries, sweet corn and warm bread from twenty local farms. Bring a bag and come early for the best picks.
Our musicians start at ten, the kids’ garden club meets at eleven, and the cider press runs all day long.
Playfair Display + Source Sans 3 · Montserrat + Merriweather · Oswald + Lora · Bodoni Moda + Montserrat · Roboto Slab + Open Sans · Space Grotesk + Lora
Find inspiration, then make it yours
Pairing books and sites, like Bonneville’s Preposterously Huge Book of Google Font Combinations, show one heading font beside dozens of body fonts. Use them as a sketchbook, not a stamp of approval:
- When a combination looks weak, figure out why. Would a different size, weight or line spacing fix it?
- Find a pairing you didn’t make but really like, and work out why it works.
- Never copy a pair exactly. Adjust the sizes, spacing and weights for your own project.
© Created by Sara Rosenstock, Marietta College Graphic Design.