Oh god. I killed it. If we do something as simple as setting Bureau Grotesque in all-caps, a fundamental relationship between the typefaces will be lost, and the system falls apart. Likewise, if the other fonts alternated between being treated in all-caps and not, we would strip out a lot of the logic and relationships that make this system work. Chances are if you’ve noticed the large number of typefaces a design is using it’s because you’re picking up on sloppy usage that isn’t following any set pattern or rules.

If you hunt for similarities in the typefaces you use and exploit them, you can have a great, diverse system of multiple faces that are fundamentally quite different but work well together because you have a specific role for each to play.

Don’t be scared by similarities

Just as there are considerations around pairing typefaces that are very different, there are also considerations for typefaces that are similar.

One of the most commonly cited rules about pairing faces is that you should avoid pairing typefaces that are too similar, and instead opt for distinct contrast in letterforms. The reasoning for this is that your audience might pick up on the slight differences and feel there could be a mistake. Letterforms like a lowercase “a” or “g” will be clear giveaways that you are using multiple faces of the same style.

The above example from an Adobe article uses Helvetica and Univers as an example of a bad pairing because the two fonts look so much alike. On first glance, they are extremely similar, but lets take a more analytical look at the two faces and suss out the differences.

So we’ve got Helvetica on the top, and Univers on the bottom. Helvetica is defined by its tight letterspacing, which makes the line of text take less space even though the individual letterforms are more robust and wide. Univers is simpler in comparison, lacking the little flourishes like the curl on the tail of the “y”, and despite the fact that the letters are narrower, the line takes more space because of the more generous letterspacing. It’s especially noticeable between the “B” and the “r” in this example.

So with these differences defined, can we find an example that justifies using both typefaces?

© Royal Shakespeare Company. License: All Rights Reserved. http://fontsinuse.com/uses/7921/royal-shakespeare-company-programme

We can! In this program design you can see the pairing working effectively. Helvetica shines at display sizes because of it’s ultra tight letterspacing, and the more airy Univers makes the body copy easier to read and contrasts with the headline. If the entire thing was set in Helvetica that tightly set it would be a typographical orgy. Each is used in a way that caters to its strengths.

One key to effective type systems is picking typefaces that might be similar and finding ways to give them their own distinctive voice. You can always stretch out the differences between typefaces in the way you treat them, but typefaces that are fundamentally different will remain so. It’s all about pulling and pushing against differences and similarities between faces to try to find the right amount of shared characteristics and interesting contrasts.

Case study inbound!