"Type is a Beautiful Group of Letters..."

I am a firm believer that great design is based on proper use of typography.  There are so many fonts available for use out there, but how do you know that you're using the right style of font for a particular design?  As Type Designer Matthew Carter says, "Type is a beautiful group of letters, not a group of beautiful letters."  I think what he is referring to is the proper pairing of letters with design.  You shouldn't necessarily pair the most elegant font with a design, but rather the most appropriate one with it.  Although some designers say that we should throw out the rules for typography, I think there should be some basic guidelines to follow.  Here are three suggestions.  (Remember that there are always exceptions).

Source: chic-type.com via Lina on Pinterest

1.  Keep it Legible – if you need to communicate something within a poster design, for example, and you can't read the font, then what's the point of even having it there? Legibility is key.

2.  Watch your Tracking and Kerning – These terms are used to describe the spacing between letters (kerning) and spacing between groups of words (tracking).  Proper tracking and kerning can improve the readability of text.

3.  Be interesting – As a general rule, most designers tell you to try to minimize the number of typefaces you use.  However, there is an exception.  If you want to keep it interesting and are using the right fonts, I don't see why you can't use multiple fonts (such as in the poster to the left).

So there are some things to consider when playing around with typography.  Below is a typographic rubix cube I made!