
How to choose and pair typefaces - zellwk
https://zellwk.com/blog/typefaces/
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sprokolopolis
This article focusses mainly on pairing by classification. Here are a few
other things to consider when pairing fonts:

X-height: This is the height of the lowercase "x" glyph. You will notice that
there is an imaginary line around where many lowercase letters line up at.
This usually falls around the crossbar of an uppercase "A" and "H". Finding
fonts with similar x-heights helps make a nice match.

Glyph width: Finding fonts with very similar widths or very contrasting widths
is also something to consider. If they are somewhere in between, it sometimes
feels weird.

Taking these attributes into consideration, in addition to their
Era/Classification/Style really help in pairing fonts.

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Endy
I was always taught to use X-height, personally. It's a very reliable means
for sans serif.

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webmaven
This article starts off well, but quickly makes various oversimplifications,
such as:

 _> This is because it’s rare for sans-serif and slab-serifs to exhibit any
difference in the stroke._

Uhh, _sure_ they are rare, as long as you ignore industries where contrasting
stroke sans-serifs are the _norm_ in their marketing materials, like
cosmetics: [https://fontsinuse.com/uses/9689/estee-lauder-
websites](https://fontsinuse.com/uses/9689/estee-lauder-websites)

For that matter, this is just an extension of the Humanist sans-serif
category.

Other important subcategories elided are the Latin (or Wedge) serifs and
Flared serifs.

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diiaann
I guess this article assumes you know how to pick a single typeface.

Hoefler & Co does a great job of demonstrating their techniques for pairing
fonts. (albeit a bit non web app biased)
[https://www.typography.com/techniques/](https://www.typography.com/techniques/)

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thomk
That grid is 3X3 not 9X9

~~~
ri0t
Also, it could easily be reduced to 2x3. Designers.. _sigh_

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sharpercoder
Keep in mind that serif typefaces do not always render pleasingly to the eye
as they need more pixels to render correctly. These pixels are needed to
render the subtle serifs. Monospace and sans typefaces suffer a lot less from
this problem.

It is one of the reasons I never advise to use serif fonts for text body.
Nowadays, betterresolutions are used more often, but low res displays are
still common enough.

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huhtenberg
Serifs for bulk content work just fine for NYT and many others.

Perhaps you should switch to not advising to use serif fonts _in smaller
sizes_ for text body.

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galago
As stated in the second paragraph, this is "simple method to pair typefaces."
Traditional typefaces have complex extant cultural connotations. Some of these
are nationalistic. Rules of thumb regarding shapes are useful, but you combine
letterforms outside their historical context and previous application at your
peril.

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Asooka
That looks like a 3x3 grid though. Is there an implied 3x3 grid in each of the
cells?

