Contrasting Fonts : Leather and Lace

Sometimes when two, equally good things come together, the product sounds better in theory. Ketchup? Good. Ice cream? Good. Ice Ketchup Cream? Not so much. But other times, when two very different things come together, it’s beautiful. Granola and yogurt, for instance. Ozzy and Miss Piggy performing together on the Muppet Show, Sir Paul McCartney and MJ, Aerosmith and Run DMC.

Leather and lace, serif and script.

One of the most popular trends in design is combining contrasting typefaces. There are a few guidelines to keep in mind if you want to do this well, but showing severe contrast can go a long way in communicating multi-faceted personalities.

An important thing to remember is that you want to use a very legible script, not an overly elaborate one with three-inch curls and super-tight kerning. Use one that doesn’t require squinting or head-tilting. Using a heavy serif font, a slab serif, will provide a canvas for the whimsical script and the result, if you choose your fonts well, can be country-charm or upscale elegance.

This wedding invitation, for example, combines an austere serif with an elegant script with elaborate, but sparingly-used swashes.

Bonnie’s Jams creates old-world charisma with its choice to showcase a simple schoolhouse cursive and using the serif font for the details.

This woman’s design blog shows off her last name and mimics an ink-pen signature. She reserves this script, using it only in the main heading and for blog titles, thus maintaining the legibility and professionalism of her site.