We offer the best printing in the Melbourne CBD, so we’ve helped create many, many posters. Believe it: fonts can make or break your poster. You want to choose a font that conveys a message and reflects your visual design strategy. You don’t want your font to blend in—the typeface itself should work for you. Here are some broad categories you may want to consider.
Artistic
A lot of serif fonts have an artistic look to them, and calligraphy-inspired fonts always come across as artistic. Choosing this type of typeface for your poster conveys that you are creative and detail-oriented. Artistic fonts are unique and stand out for their beauty, but they still maintain the utmost professionalism. Just make sure the font is still readable—anything too swooping can be difficult for the viewer to decipher, even at a large scale.
Artistic Font
Note that most artistic fonts look best in basic black. Our guess is that if your poster has an artistic visual design, you’ll be using a variety of colours and complex images. Bold, solid black will simply stand out the best.
Modern
Modern fonts are usually sans-serif and can be described as geometric. Boxy letters with clean lines of unusual weights are definitely modern. If you want your poster to communicate that you are cutting-edge and on-trend, opt for a modern font. Especially if your poster is an advertisement, modern fonts will let the reader know you are results-oriented.
Modern Font
Modern fonts work well in nearly every industry. The only tricky thing about using them is mixing them with other typefaces, because they are often bold and can upstage daintier fonts. If you are mixing and matching fonts on your poster, just be sure to choose a secondary typeface that can stand up to the drama of your modern title font.
Retro/Vintage Inspired
Currently, retro and vintage-inspired text is very popular, especially those typefaces that are reminiscent of the glitzy 1920s. Some retro fonts convey a feeling of nostalgia and simplicity, while others have a distinctly more posh feel. What both have in common is a sense that you value tradition; that you’re classic and sophisticated. Retro and vintage fonts will instantly make you seem trustworthy. It’s important when using this type of font that you match it to the rest of your poster’s visual appearance. In most cases, an abstract graphic design won’t complement a retro font well. Stick with timeless visuals and colours, like blues, reds and recognisable images.
Remember, fonts communicate more than the actual words they form. Take time to reflect on the purpose of your poster and what implicit messages you want to convey to the reader. If you haven’t already, make sure you read our previous article on font basics. Then, all you have to do is start searching for a font that fits your visual design. If you’re looking for design help, come by Spencer Minuteman Press for the best CBD printing service!