Vincent Connare designed Comic Sans in 1995, for applications intended for children. Fifteen years later, the font is wildly popular with users of all ages – except for graphic designers, most of whom love to hate it.

Today’s OpenType fonts come equipped with a virtual buffet of numeral styles, but all those choices can be a bit much for your design application to swallow. Here’s a practical guide to help you find your way.

The University of California Old Style, the basis for ITC Berkeley Oldstyle, was one of Frederic Goudy’s favorite designs. In 1937, a friend asked Goudy if he would consider drawing a face for the exclusive use of the University of California Press at Berkeley.

Making professional-looking fractions with OpenType is a snap – as long as you have the right font!

Weddings, award ceremonies, formal graduations: some might call them “Kodak moments,” but to the typographer they’re “Spencerian script” moments. These elegant script faces are derived from a popular form of 19th century penmanship and are still used to create beautifully typeset announcements, invitations, and keepsake documents such as diplomas and formal certificates.

When did all the type get so small? Like it or not, as we get older our eyes start to have design opinions of their own. Follow these guidelines for setting type that audiences of all ages will read with pleasure.

An initial letter (or initial cap, as they are also called) is an enlarged letter that is used as the first character of a paragraph. It can sit above, below, to the left of, or even behind the body text, and can be set in a contrasting weight, style or color.

Breaking up isn’t hard to do – just do it right so you don’t lose face. Learn why making the right line breaks in display type is essential for good looks and good sense.

A powerfully designed headline can grab your readers’ attention and draw them in. Don’t squander these golden opportunities to communicate; instead, master the art of creating eye-catching, high-contrast headlines that refuse to be ignored.

The, for, and, of, to – when you use logotypes, these tiny little words can add sizable flair to your work. There may even be logotypes hidden in fonts you already have, and they’re well worth looking for.