You have your product, you have your marketing medium which is the postcard, and you have all the design elements you want to put there. But you cannot decide on which typeface to use, possibly because there are thousands of options to choose from.
Typefaces are the distinct strokes of characters and symbols, included in which are letters, numerals and punctuation marks. And because there are numerous choices, some coming from softwares and others found in the internet for free, it may take time before you can narrow down hundreds to ten into one final typeface.
Types of typefaces
You have seen them before and you know how different they are from each other. These typefaces actually have ‘families’ to which they belong to due to specific characteristics of the strokes.
Here are some of the following types of typefaces:
1. Serif
Serif is a favorite among many publishers and ad producers simply because it is said to be more readable than sans serif, its simpler counterpart. This is why serifs are used for long texts and copies.
This typeface has very small strokes protruding called serifs. A very common example of this is Times New Roman.
2. Sans serif
Sans serif, as described earlier, are simpler than serifs in that they do not possess the small strokes of the latter, hence the additional word sans which in French means without. Very popular examples of this are Helvetica and Arial.
Sans serif typefaces give a certain sleek and polished look that could easily complement modern-looking ads. Its minimal strokes give it a simple yet chic effect.
3. Script
Script typefaces are commonly used for more formal letterings and purposes. For ads, it could help establish a similar formal tone. Most of its appeal lies on its similarities with old handwriting strokes. This is a good element to include in your postcard design if your product is meant to convey class and style.
Although elegant, it presents a difficulty with readability. Letters are somewhat compressed, they are linked to each other and the strokes form several loops and overlaps, making them relatively difficult to read. To resolve this, you can use the word processor function on character spacing to make each letter quite farther apart from each other.
An example of this calligraphy typeface is Kuenstler Script. There is also a line of scripts that are less formal, aptly named casual script.
4. Monospace
This typeface is given the name monospace due to the equal space each letter occupies, unlike other typefaces wherein l and i are narrow, and m is wider than the rest. All the preceding typefaces in this list are called proportional.
Originally used in typewriters which moved at equal spaces and accommodated only one font, the monospace typeface has penetrated the computer scene with the fall of typewriters. One of the most notable forms of this is Courier New.
5. Symbols
Although not composed of letters, the symbol typeface can show several objects such as mails, phones and others to help you send out a message through images.
Famous examples of these are Dingbats and Wingdings.
These typefaces are good accents to postcard designs, plus they help express what images and colors cannot do fully – through either artistically or simply designed characters.
