Yesterday I happened to catch a glimpse of a tweet linking to an article titled, The Problem with Free Fonts, and as a typography fanatic I had to click and read. I’m not sure if the article title was a bit misleading, but I was a hint disappointed by the depth of the articles positioning.

[Please note: I have nothing against the article, writer or website. I just felt that the subject needed to be further touched upon.]

To keep things short, the article only went into enough detail to say the problem is that they become “bludgeoned to death through massive over use.” While this certainly holds true, it’s not really the “problem” with free fonts, or fonts in general. Museo, the semi-slab from exljbris is a beautiful typeface, and while they do offer three weights for free, it is still a well-crafted family with close to 400 glyphs, standard ligatures and true italics to support. There is no actual “problem” with Museo. We do see it used quite often, but it’s mostly the misuse, not the overuse, that should siphon concern. If used correctly you can see it is an extremely beautiful typeface. Although, many free fonts can also be extremely beautiful. The trick is knowing how / when to use them, their history, your message and how it’s being stated with the type personality you select.

The first problem

In my opinion, the number one problem with free fonts is that many of us look through hundreds of galleries online and typically choose something that “looks good” and work around that. Not necessarily a wrong approach, however many of these free distributers fail to provide background information / history, the medium which is was intended for (typefaces are typically created with a purpose in mind) and other important information.

As you might have known, I am a huge fan of Typekit. Beyond offering beautiful font licensing on the web, they do a great job of educating the user. As an example, when you are viewing Typekit’s database and come across, let’s say, FF Meta Web Pro, they offer a resourceful About this font writeup:

“FF Meta was originally (1985) conceived as a typeface for use in small point sizes. Against its intended purpose, FF Meta very quickly became one of the most popular typefaces of the computer era. It is used a lot in magazines, from the Normal weight in small point sizes for captions up to the Black version for large headlines. Designed by Erik Spiekermann. More about FF Meta Web Pro…“

Without having to dig to deep, we immediately can assume this font is great for body copy (since it reads well at small sizes), it’s easy on the eye (since it’s used in a lot of magazines), and they even let us know that it works well for both captions and headlines — how useful! The standard (non-web) version even provides more in depth background information. Type history should not be overlooked.

The second problem

Typically the next problem is most free fonts only offer one weight and one style. This may serve well for a single headline, but if you are setting type for editorial design this will create a problem when it comes to establishing a hierarchy. Having a full featured typefaces for the job, such as true italics, bold weights, small caps, ligatures, etc. will take you a long way. A huge “no, no” is letting computer software handle bolding and italicizing (also known as faux italicizing and bolding). It’s all about having the right font for the right job.

The third problem

I find many free fonts, if they do have a few extra weights and styles, to be poorly constructed. Quality fonts, for the most part, rarely need to be kerned and adjusted to read and look consistent. Each letterform was carefully constructed and thought-out to work perfectly sitting next to the previous and following character. Many of the free fonts unfortunately do not.

Take Asenine for example. The normal weight might seem fine to many at first glance, however the “wide” version, and two condensed versions seems to be distorted and squished. The font becomes careless in a sense. FF Absara on the other hand, which has an extremely large suite, has various weights and styles that look like each letterform was perfectly and carefully manufactured.

I’m certain many reading this article are agreeing upon the points made above, yet cringing at the fact of buying a font. I’m not saying you have to go out and buy an entire type family. Purchase a single font (at times a single font, weight, and style only cost $40–$60.00 or so) when necessary though. Work it into your clients budget and explain to them the reason you are buying the font you are using for their logo, for example. Help them to understand that this is the best solution because the font was created to work well at very large sizes and very small sizes so it will improve the readability and recognition if the logo is displayed small or large. Explain to them that using this typeface will improve prolonged reading on their blog, minus the eye strain. Not only will you have happier clients that understand the process and reasoning for making the decisions we make, but it will help to improve your portfolio since you will have much better looking samples to show.

Currently the web is moving towards a shift and really showcasing beautiful typographic examples where limitations prevented us prior. Typekit is one of the best $50 a year I’ve spent in a long time. It’s great to see a service that licenses high caliber fonts also provide educational insight and bring true value to the understanding typography. With more ways than ever to bring beautiful type to the web it’s necessary to harness a concrete understanding of type. As the saying goes, “With great power brings great responsibility.”

For me, typography has always been the science of an art form. It requires patience and understanding. Learning as much as you can about type, fonts and its history really goes a long way. “Huge font libraries don’t make good designs, good designers make good designs.” — Sean Gaffney and Matthew Smith, Web Typography & CSS3 Presentation

As designers, we see websites, their parts and a variety of other design elements being overused, misused and abused on a daily basis. We label most of these as “trends”, but let’s face it: We have all fallen guilty of them and in a way we should be glad they exist. It helps the special few break free and try something new (again, setting us up for another future trend).

However, I’d hate to see typography become just another “trend”, when in my opinion, it is the backbone of good design. It shouldn’t be viewed on the same lines as rounded corner boxes or text-shadows that look cool for the time being. It is an element of design that has been around since design itself and should be handled in such a way. Ninety-five percent of the web is typography, right?

In order to help prevent typography from just falling into another category, learning about typography, beyond typefaces and fonts is essential a must to every designers toolbelt. The folks behind Typekit do a great job of this. They offer a short write-up about each font providing background / historical information, purpose for which it was created, and what its use is best intended for (ie: works well at very small sizes, good for body copy, great for headlines).

It’s great to start seeing a variety in fonts on the web, but this makes it very easy to abuse a beautiful typeface as well. Choosing a fancy font does not necessarily make for good design, but learning and executing a base typographic-understanding does.

Instead of focusing this article on choosing a typeface or what makes a quality font, I thought it would be better to focus on something indirectly related, yet thought about, but never enough: Space. Whitespace, negative space, however you deam it, makes for good typography.

The little things matter

Take A List Apart’s website for example: very minimal graphics, no use of @font-face, color is subtle and purposefully used. So what makes this site so beautiful if it’s 95% type?

They do one heck of a nice job crafting the space for their content. They allow the type to breathe on its own or as a collective. Look at the detail in their site that is often over looked yet leads to beautiful typography: The line leading (line-height for CSS folk) is superb, the capitalized author names are letter-spaced to allow and improve readability for smaller letters—yes, they even paid attention to space between characters.

Below I took a screen shot of the original site and mocked up the bottom portion so that it does not pay attention to the little details. Paying attention to space doesn’t always mean looking at the big picture. Pay attention to the little spaces and crevises. Look at the drastic difference below:

Read and look between the lines

A List Apart’s website also does a great job of reading between the lines. Take for example the image below. Look at the attention to space as it plays with relationship and comparison from element to element. When designing for web or print pay attention to how one or many elements play off one another. Are they in unison because they aren’t meant to relate to one another or did you design to to be disconnected to create tension for the viewer? Remember, typography has purpose.

Each block above shows the relationship of space between the same color near it.

Life beyond the fold

Not too long ago I read a nice, quirky article by Paddy Donnelly titled Life Below 600px. The quick and to-the-point article, and of course it makes you scroll and scroll (and scroll…) to read the entire article is a jab at those saying things need to be above the fold, and I couldn’t agree with Paddy more. Although I am all for placing important elements near the top in plain view, people will also know when to scroll to read and view additional information. The web is filling up with more and more content, screen sizes are getting increasingly larger and people are no longer unaware that scrolling exists.

I say use the space and use it well. Don’t be afraid to use the vertical space to its full potential. Many websites feel the need to cram tons of information into one tight area. Below are websites that use vertical space well and create a much more dynamic interaction:

1. www.pieoneers.com
2. www.elemodo.com
3. versionsapp.com
4. marketcircle.com/billings
5. blueskyresumes.com

Sure, many of these websites could have opted for another direction on how to engineer the space—added more pages, pulled elements closer together—but in my opinion this makes each one of these sites unique and more engaging. It allows the content to breathe and results in the elements becoming more noticed and digestible.

The web and print collide… and it’s pretty

A wide range of quality fonts at our finger tips, CSS3 techniques that allows us to break and flow text into multiple columns… The web is starting to give designers less and less limitations and comparable to its print ancestors. Many of today’s designers I feel started directly on the web or have very little print design background. Nothing wrong with this, but there are many lessons and inspiration that can be drawn by print design, especially in relation to space. Next time you pick up a newspaper to read, don’t read it. Instead look at how the space is manipulated (both good and bad). Start looking at poster design for web design inspiration or visit your local bookstore, open up a few well-designed books and inspire your new blog layout design.

Experiment and play

Don’t take the above too seriously. There are always exceptions to the rule and other ways of doing one thing. Practice, experiment and play.

Matthew Smith of Squared Eye recently redesigned a printed receipt just for the sake of discussion and fun. In this exercise he goes into how more room to breathe allows for importance placement among other things. While the typeface used is lovely, the spacing is what makes this receipt one that I would not want to throw out.

The next time you are designing a website, place extra attention on the spacing or start off on paper by sketching where elements should be placed in a uniquely spaced and positioned layout like that of The Many Faces Of. You’d be very surprised by how much placing extra time on spacing and space relationships and contrasts will do to improve your design’s typography.

I often collect and save examples of layout and typography that interests me or I find enjoyable and beautiful, so below I’ve gathered 30 websites showcasing beautiful typography and layout design for your viewing pleasures. Enjoy.

Chirp

Neutron Creations

Vigepops

Billings

Simon Collison

The Gates Notes

SimpleBits

Vegas Uncork’d

Build Guild

Epic Event

Happy Cog’aoke

Pictory

Trent Walton

OrderedList

Design Litmus

Analog

Authentic Jobs

Electric Pulp

Frank Chimero

Information Highwayman

Ligature, Loop & Stem

Matthew Henry

Ryan Clark

SVA

Veer Ideas

Fever

Squared Eye

DevDays

Sushi & Robots

The Sew Weekly

Also if you are interested, I recently had the opportunity to visit and chat with some new friends over at Two Paperdolls letterpress shop and design studio and managed to take some pictures of their beautiful antique letterpress machines, wood blocks and other studio shots (with my new DSLR). Feel free to check out the photos on my Flickr page.

The posed questions had me rethink the way I work and make choices — more specifically, why I make certain font choices when pairing a typeface with a logo mark or symbol. Continue reading for a few tips and methods to help choose more relevant and suitable typefaces for a logo mark and overall improve your typography decisions.

*Note: the below can also be translated into all elements of typography

Know your history

Choosing a suitable and relevant font for a logo mark/symbol starts with a base understanding of history (that is too often under acknowledged).

A [good] type designer create typefaces not simply to just “look pretty.” Quality typefaces were designed to fit a particular era or style in history and suited for a specific medium. Instead of dedicating this article to type history, here are a few articles and books for further explanation and study:

• A Brief History of Type by I Love Typography
• The Elements of Typographic Style by Robert Bringhurst
• Stop Stealing Sheep & Find Out How Type Works by Erik Spiekermann & E.M. Ginger

Not to say that you need to know everything there is about each typeface, but doing some history homework will take you a long way when selecting the best font solution for your logo.

Get a feel for the curves and shapes

Next time you choose a font, try zooming in close and analyzing the curves and shapes of the letter forms.

Let’s compare the lowercase A’s in FF Absara and Bienetresocial (free font): Absara’s A has much sharper and straight curves in comparison to Bienetresocial’s rounded curves. Absara’s letterforms appears to be chiseled, while Bienetresocial’s appears more fluid and smooth.

So what does the above have to do with pairing a logo mark with a typeface? Well, a mark that has drastic angles or points might look better with Absara because it closely mimics some of the characteristics of the typefaces, while a mark with rounded corners might look better with Bienetresocial.

Also, many designers will custom design or modify an existing typeface to help it better fit a mark and feel.

Personality

Just like a persons wardrobe or car, it must fit your personality, right? Let’s take a look at the font Public Gothic (free font). As the designer states its personality is “a little industrial and a little vintage.” Now let’s take a look at Public Gothic in good use (not logo related but for the sake of example):

The below, new beautiful website Happy Cog’aoke designed by Happy Cog, uses Public Gothic in their masthead “Happy Cog’aoke.”

The typeface and design elements in their website compliment each other very well. The “industrial, vintage” personality of Public Gothic goes well with the textured background and circuit board-like lines used through the website. A winning combination for the overall superb website.

Think about the look/feel of your clients market and the overall impression you are trying to give off with your logo and pair it with a personality type (pun intended). If you cannot state a few keywords that are similar between the market, mark/symbol, and/or typeface then somewhere something needs to be adjusted, removed or modified.

Contrasts

Contrast is important in design. It allows for visual differences and emphasis where needed. Try pairing thicker, more prominent marks or shapes with a thinner typeface to add atmosphere, space and/or tension.

For example, the new identity for Armani Exchange (A|X) uses a combination of thick, bold and dense boxes with a typeface that has a nice contrast of light lines to add contrast to the dense boxes and thicker lines to add relationship to the black boxes.

This is also a good example of paying attention to shape and form, as the straight, long, horizontal serifs sit perpendicular with the lines of the box. Which brings us to our next point of similarity.

Similarities

In contrast (again, pun intended) to the above, try balancing the weight of the mark to the weight of the selected typeface to create a stronger relationship.

Let’s look at the example of the Exact identity below. The lines of the equal (=) symbol are the same thickness of the letter form thickness of the words ‘exact.’ This creates a balance and relationship of the two separate elements and works to bring them together. Instead of tension we now have uniformity of elements.

Readability

When designing for any medium or subject, you should never let style get in the way of design. More importantly: style should not hinder the usability, and in our case, the readability of the typeface.

Choose a logo that works not only well at large sizes, but small sizes. Sure it might look perfectly fine at a 18-point font size on your monitor, but remember a logo will most likely appear in small corners or on business cards so it needs to be readable at very small sizes.

When testing typefaces, don’t forget to shrink them down on screen in addition to printing them out at small sizes. If it’s hard to read, it’s most likely not the best solution.

Final two thoughts

Contrary to the above, a logo does not have to accompany a mark/symbol. Many of the most successful brands have beautiful, memorable logotypes that display a typeface or custom type design. Get a feel for your clients market and brainstorm what would work best.

Secondly, the above on font pairing does not only relate to logos and marks. Many of the above tips can be used for all forms of typography — for determining a headline for an article on, for example, technology to determining a hierarchy for a book on birds.

Not to say you should start designing typefaces or know how to identity every typeface on the market, but having a strong grasp on typography, rules and history will take you and your designs a long way.

Below are a few techniques I generally go with when styling my type and aspects I considered and incorporated while designing BrianHoff.net.

Line height

First off if you are not specifying your type size in ems you should be. “The results show that, across all browsers, text at the medium browser setting is rendered identically to text set in pixels. It also demonstrates that text sized in ems can be resized across all browsers.”

Another reason I set my type in ems is because it’s easy to find a good line height, which I usually set as 1.5em. No matter what size type you use, generally a good, readable line height is 1.5em of the font size for body copy.

Your CSS should look something like this:

.bodytext p {
font-size:1em; /* 1em=16px */
line-height: 1.5em; /*1.5em of a 1em (or 16px font) = 24px
}

All caps and small caps

Whether you are dealing with print or web, a string of capital or small capped letters should have some additional letterspacing.

I’ve always used a 1px letterspacing for most all caps and small cap type — it’s a nice balance on the web.

Your CSS should look something like this:

.bodytext p {
font-size:1em; /* 1em=16px */
letter-spacing: 1px;
}

Comfortable reading measures

Having a comfortable reading measure (or width) not only allows your web page to have better structure, but allows text to be easily read.

“Anything from 45 to 75 characters is widely regarded as a satisfactory length of line for a single-column page set in a serifed text face in a text size. The 66-character line (counting both letters and spaces) is widely regarded as ideal. For multiple column work, a better average is 40 to 50 characters.”

Your CSS should look something like this:

DIV#col1 {width:400px; }

DIV#col2 {width:50%; }

DIV#col3 {width:33em; }

[code example courtesy of: http://j.mp/DLgE]

Hierarchy and contrast

Establishing a distinguishable and relevant hierarchy allows readers to easily scan your website and allows them to pull out which information is most important or secondary. A good hierarchy allows information to be digested in chunks, thus allowing your reader to retain more information and stay longer on your site.

Although my about page has a lot information on it, one can still easily scan the various sections and pull out only or all the information they want.

Also, contrast is very important as well, especially when pair typefaces:

"When pairing typefaces, it’s important to be able to tell that there are two distinct typefaces in play, but contrast has other uses as well. Very different typefaces can play off of each other in complementary ways or resist each other to create a bit of tension, while typefaces that appear too similar can weaken the message and confuse a design’s visual language."

Layout

When designing brianhoff.net I established my layout around the 960 grid system, which helped to keep things aligned and orderly, which works out well for content heavy sites.

Having good layout helps to improve readability and scalability for your readers.

*Website has since been lightly revised from the above design.

Readability

For something that you "read" having good readability is key. For example, Times is easily readable set in 14px font, it is very hard to read at 8px on the web. Instead, try a typeface with a larger x-height, like Georgia or Verdana.

Remember, typefaces are not just about looking good. They are many beautiful typefaces out there, but so often they are misused. Typefaces were created to serve purpose and were originally designed to work in a specific setting, medium or time period.

Embrace differences

A common question I get asked about my site is "how did you achieve those fancy ampersands (& symbol)?"Below you will find the CSS:

span.amp {
font-family: Baskerville, "Goudy Old Style", "Palatino", "Book Antiqua", serif;
font-style: italic;
}

Once they receive the above response, the next question is "well, not all computers have that font." With that being true because we all use different computers, with older and new operating systems, and different web browsers, a website will never look exactly the same, but that doesn't mean it's a bad thing; embrace the differences.

Just because PC users that use IE (possibly) are not seeing the same ampersands as someone on a new Mac running Firefox, that doesn't mean they are seeing something that doesn't look good or doesn't work. For the people that don't see what you intended, 90 percent of the times don't even know what they are missing.

Typography is the backbone of good web design

As web designers surrounded by trends and other design/graphic elements, we often forget the main reason people visit websites — to read and find information (quickly and easily).

Take away all the extra design elements and all we are left with is the type. Unlike glassy reflections, wood grain textures, and shiny buttons, communication with type is timeless.

So why not pay more attention to the backbone of a good web site design? The next time you start designing your website start first and focus on the type — the strength of a design lies within the type.

Further reading on web typography

• On Web Typography and Font Pairing
• The Elements of Typographic Style Applied to the Web
• Introduction to Typekit

SPONSORED LINK:

Learn typography tutorials with psd-tutorial.com

Only thing was before Twitter lists were introduced, I still found myself enjoying RSS feeds simply for that fact that I was able to organize my information and see only what I wanted to see…. Now we can do just that with Twitter lists!

Below I have organized 3 separate lists: My favorite design blogs I read on a regular basis, typography resources/info and my personal favorite ‘Top Twits’ list.

1. Favorite design blogs
2. Typography tweets
3. My personal favorites designers

As I encounter more great resources the list will be expanding, so check back often. Also, if you are not already feel free to add myself (@behoff) and/or follow TDCBrand updates on Twitter.

While spending time in awe looking at type specimen sheets, there is usually one character sticks out for me —the lowercase letter g, especially those with closed or partially closed loops (also known as a double story).

With swooping necks, quaint ears and abstract loops, the lowercase g has become a beautiful character to fall in love with, and type designers have been creating some extremely lovely and mesmerizing ones for years. Below are a 30+ standout (below the baseline) lowercase g’s for your viewing pleasure.

What’s your favorite lowercase g? Have one that’s not included? Please share in the comments below.

First off I am not stating that all “free” fonts are immediately poor quality, but a quality typeface is carefully crafted and articulated for a specific purpose and medium. Quality typefaces have consistency between letterforms, can be clearly read, versatile, and have large families – to name a few.

Now I know what you are thinking – most quality faces are much too expensive to buy, especially to purchase frequently. Instead, try saving up once or twice a year to buy a beautifully crafted, versatile typeface and use it to it’s best advantage. You’d be surprised by how much a quality typeface can do for your work. Taking a few quality faces, perfecting them and understanding them will take you further in your career than a library of 10,000 fonts.

For fun, I asked my friends on Twitter, If you could purchase one quality typeface what would it be and why? Below are their responses.

@siahdesign: I’ve always wanted to purchase the Archer font family. It’s such a class and charming.

@NovaStyle: Mostly because I’ve been lusting after Requiem for awhile now, and if I were a font I would be this font!

@nikibrown: I would buy Archer – quirky, sophisticated and playful. Lots of weights as well.

@VM_DesigNut: Univers because it is modern, classy, simple, and goes with a lot of things. It also works for body copy when a sans serif is needed.

@anakahn: Sentinel by Hoefler & Frere-Jones – approachable and welcoming. Love it!

@doggdaze: Helvetica – I know people have their issues with that font but its such a nice clean straightforward font to me

@tomlewek: Mercury Text from Hoefler & Frere Jones. Because it’s rare that I find a serif font so beautiful with a great small caps.

@imaneesha: Zapfino – very professional, yet cursive with an edge.

@davidtrang: Avenir – it’s clean and looks great big or small.

@andymangold: Soho – it’s beautiful, unique, contemporary slab. Stands out in the slab pack with versatile character and personality.

@scottishsimon: Bliss Pro – the care and thought that went into it, and the history behind it. It’s classic and modern at the same time, with a nod to the legibility of roadsigns and The London Underground typography.

@enquiredesign: Fertigo Pro (free but well worth the inclusion) – it’s fresh and well designed. I particularly like the nice blend of modern precision and organic flow.

@iamkhayyam: Neutraface – The dexterity and punch. All across the board with lovely variations that can fit a myriad of identity and layout needs. However, Avenir is my stand by.. oh wait… and Trade Gothic. Those two are great, but if I could one pick one, again… it’s the House Industries Neutraface.

@tareqsamman: Friz Quadrata Regular – elegant, easy to read and most important… no one use it

@gariphic: Gotham – assertive, yet friendly. Clean, modern and easy on the eye.

@bluenabi: Champion Script Pro – I love the flow and the details of this font. I don’t even have the words to describe how much I love this font.

@cgdezign: Scout – nice, clean and legible.

@DanThink: Zurich – clean and well stacked. It makes an impact.

@LogoMotives: Theorem – Had I answered this question two days ago my response would have been Federal from LettError Type. However, I found a need for the font – actually for a pro bono project – and allowed myself permission to purchase it. Next on my list would be Theorem – from Umbrella Type and sold through Veer. Every once in a while I check out the type selections on Veer’s site and Theorem keeps jumping out at me. It would be a great identity type selection for retail, a restaurant or product packaging. The font would also be complemented by a wide variety of type – serif and sans serif – making it potentially very versatile in all the marketing/advertising collateral for a business.

Two main reasons individuals choose any business, product, service, etc. to spend their money: We either really like what we are spending our money on or we enjoy where we are spending it because they have trust and faith in what we are purchasing – both of which can be applied in one way, shape or form to a design business, or any business for that matter.

While the first, ‘we like what we are spending our money on’, is obvious – the client has to enjoy the work in our portfolios – but the second, trust, in my opinion is the most important and valuable to a business. Forming relationships is essential to growth. Below are 10 ways to build trust and form relationships, online and off, that will keep design work coming your way.

1. Offer help

Social media is a great opportunity for helping others. With people following hundreds and thousands of people on sites like Twitter and Facebook there are tons of questions to be answered, resources to be shared, etc. Helping out not only showcases your talents and dedication to your field, but it helps build trust and relationships through shared knowledge – you become viewed as a resource and trusted as the ‘go-to’ person.

2. Explain why, not how

Explain to your clients WHY you are making the choices and doing the things you are doing (ie: I choose this font because it is legible and sophisticated, so your Investor readers will not suffer from eye fatigue). Your clients will trust your judgment more because they will have a better understanding of your work and decision making.

Especially in a field that can be viewed as completely subjective to “good” design, offering and explaining reasoning is key.

3. Be accessible

Answer emails promptly, return phone calls quickly, etc. Think about it from their perspective – you just gave someone a thousand dollars and haven’t heard from them in a few weeks. Even I would start to worry!

I try to keep my clients in the loop as much as possible by email / phone and letting them know how things are progressing. I find when I do this clients are much more lenient and trust your professional judgment.

4. Get testimonials

Testimonials are a great addition to a designers website/portfolio. It allows other clients to view how people, like them, view your services. Even some of my clients have allowed me to hand out their phone number or email if I needed future recommendations – now that’s building relationships!

5. Demonstrations

Another great addition to your website, portfolio or blog is a documented creative processes. It showcases how you work and what a potential client is investing their money and time in.

On this site you will find a few of my logo design processes, where I showcase sketches, concepts, briefs and more.

6. Under promise, over deliver

Let’s say you just landed a new website project and estimate that it will  take you 4–6 weeks to complete… Don’t quote your clients four weeks only because it sounds better.

It’s always best to under promise and over deliver – even though it might only take four weeks, instead of the quoted six, you’re client will be much happier because you exceeded their expectations.

7. Put on your best face

In an online world where everything is becoming less personal, putting a face to your site or blog brings back the human personality. Spend extra time perfecting your About Me page and add a photo or two of yourself. Those reading your site will feel more connected to your work and you, thus feeling more connected and trusted.

8. Results

If nothing else, people trust results and love to see actual data. Get in touch with old clients and ask them if their business has increased since the re-brand you developed for them.

Document the results and ask if you can share with others or through a testimonial.

9. Establish your credentials

Like the saying, or Jeff Fisher says, “you have to toot your own horn from time to time because no one else will.” Having a list of your achievements, credentials and accomplishments is a great way to establish yourself as an expert in your industry without sounding self-centered.

10. Be upbeat and personable

Having a great personality online and off is a must have. When speaking with someone or meeting them in person be upbeat and positive and carry this over to your online social media. People enjoy engaging with those who are approachable and will certainly come to you if they need work. Be a pleasure to work with and the rest will follow.

Feel free to dig through the typographic “tool shed” of resources below:

RESOURCES

Typedia is a community website to classify typefaces and educate people about them. Think of it like a mix between IMDb and Wikipedia, but just for type. Anyone can join, add, and edit pages for typefaces or for the people behind the type.

Typography and Font Mega Toolbox

Typography tools

Typography aggregation from various resources around the web

A new and amazing type-based aggregation site from the people over at I Love Typography. Also, my new homepage :)

INSPIRATION

High quality fonts and custom type design

Typographic research

HAND-DRAWN AND FOUND TYPE INSPIRATION

WPA Posters and hand-drawn vintage lettering

A beautiful arrangement of notes taken at SXSW… have to love designer’s sketchbooks and notebooks. Words are pictures.

A fun little iPhone web app that allows you to tag and search letters from the community and make words out of found lettering.

EDUCATIONAL AND INFORMATIONAL

Radio station and talks related to typography and other design related issues.

The Elements of Typographic Style Applied to the Web address how to improve web typography, including rhythm, proportion, measure, and much more.

Type design philosophy

Typography workshop with a listed of type-basics and references.

A must-see… that’s all I’m saying. :)

A nice collection of font pairing for partnering serifs and sans.

BLOGS

An extensive 96 Typography Blogs list. I was going to list them here but instead I’ll listed the ones that were not covered via the above resource below.

A beautiful letterpress blog that showcases beautiful typography and design.

COLLECTIONS

42 Amazing Resources for Inspirational Typography

Typography in advertising design

Typography based design blog inspiration

MISCELLANEOUS

An aggregation of awesome typography-based t-shirts.

A tweet aggregation that collects tweets that have anything to do with typography, fonts, lettering, etc. Very cool and useful.

An interesting concept where you can combine parts of letters to form shapes and art.