And if the font comes in a range of different styles (like italics or small caps) and weights (from hairline to ultra-black), it’ll offer more tools to fine-tune the design as the project comes together. Some font families are large enough to include international scripts and special characters. Certain fonts work best in headlines, while others read well in paragraphs. These needs are not only aesthetic, but also technical and functional-and there’s only so much you can tell from snippets of text as you scroll through a dropdown menu from Alegreya to Zapf Dingbats. Whether you find these words inspiring or intimidating, the plain fact is that the right typographic choice always reflects the specific needs of the project itself. Typography “exists to honor content,” according to Bringhurst, and when it’s done well it “reveals every element, every relationship between elements, and every logical nuance of the text.” Turn to the writings of Robert Bringhurst, whose Elements of Typographic Style has served as a sagely reference text for decades, and you’ll find a high-minded articulation of the craft.
If you get it right, typography can be incredibly powerful.