SI

LVERST
AG TYPEFOUNDRY THEFONTPAI
RING GUI
DE

heF
t ONT P
AIRI
NG
GUI
DEforDESI
GNERS
r
eatf
oo
ft
npi
ai
rg
n n
o
:afte
di
sge
nrsg
' i
ue
d!
h
T

THEARTOFFONTPAI
RING AFONTDESI
GNER’
SGUI
DE
 heI
t NTRODUCTI
ON
My j our ney i nt he wor l
d ofdes ign Thisfascinat
ion withfontpairi
ng isn
't
beganov er15y earsago,andi t
’sbeen about ndi ngthe'perf
ect'combinati
on
at hriingr i
de.Fr om craingi mpact ful –it'
sabout ndi ngtheonet hatspeaks
brand i dent i
ties to desi
gning engag- foryourpr oj
ect.It
'saboutint
entional
i-
i
ngwebs i
tes,I '
vei mmersed mys elfin ty.Whet heryouwantades i
gntowhi s-
af acet sofvi sual communi cat
ion.Bro- perel egance ors houtwith audacit
y,
chur es,pos ters,packagi ng – ev ery therightfontpair
ingbecomesnotj ust
projectpr esentedauni quechaenge yours ecretweapon,buty ourdes i
gn
ofcombi ning s hapes,colors,and of l
anguage.
cour se,typogr aphy .
Letmes harewhatI'v
el earned along
Fontsquicklybecamemor ethanj ust theway.Thisgui
dewiwal kyouthrough
tool
sf orme.Wi t
ha6- yeardeepdi ve the f
undament al
soff ontpairing,un-
i
ntotheintri
cat
ewor ldoffontcreati
on,I l
ockingawhol enewlev elofexpressi
ve
developedakeeney eforthes ubtl
enu- potent
iali
ny ourdes
igns .
anceswi t
hinl
e erf
orms .There'
sincred-
i
blepoweri nhowas ingl
et ypefacecan
changet heenti
refeelofades ign.

THEARTOFFONTPAI
RING PAGE02 AFONTDESI
GNER’
SGUI
DE
SI
LVERST
AG TYPEFOUNDRY THEFONTPAI
RING GUI
DE

Pai
ringanul t
ra-boldsanss er
ifwi
thahand-drawns criptfontisas tudyinplayful
contras
t s
.Thes ansserifcommandsa enti
onwi t
hit
sunwav eri
ngcondenceand
chunkyl e er
forms ,o eri
ngas ol
i
d,modernanchor. Jux t
aposedagai nstthi
s,the
hand-drawns criptdanceswithwhimsi
calenergy,i
tsor ganicli
nesandi mper f
ec-
ti
onsaddi ngatouchof war mt
handpersonal
it
y.Thi
scombi nati
ons t
ri
kesabalance
betweenbol dstatementandhumant ouch,perf
ectfordes ignsthataimtobebot h
i
mpact fulandappr oachable.

THEARTOFFONTPAI
RING PAGE03 AFONTDESI
GNER’
SGUI
DE
SI
LVERST
AG TYPEFOUNDRY THEFONTPAI
RING GUI
DE

heF
t ONTBA
SICS
T
ypef
aceCat
egor
ies Scr
ipt
:WhenWor
dsBecomeAr
t

Ser
if
:TheEl
eganceofT
radi
ti
on Scri
ptfontsemulatehandwri
ti
ngs t
yles,
rangi
ng f r
om elegant caigraphy to
Seri
fs,thesma decor at
ivestr
okesat casualbrushst
rokes.Ex
erci
secaution–
theendsofl e ers
,tracetheirroot
sto excessi
veus ecanoverwhelm adesign.
ancientRoman s tone carvi
ngs.They
evoke a sense offormalit
y,herit
age, Popularscri
pts :
Aur a,Pacico,Dancing
ands ophi
sti
cat
ion. Scri
pt,Lobster.
..
I
dealus es:
Ti t
les,i
nvit
ations,l
ogoswith
Popularseriftypefaces:Times New apersonaltouch, s
hor ttextaccent
s.
Roman,Garamond, Georgia.
.
.
I
dealuses:Printpubli
cat
ions(newspa- Decor
ati
ve:Spar
kleandFl
air
pers
,books),formaldocument s,l
ogos
emphasiz
ingtradit
ion. Decorati
vefonts encompass a wide
arr
ayofs t
yli
zed,eye-
cat
chingtypef
ac-
SansSer
if
:Moder
nit
yandCl
ari
ty es.Thei
rpr i
marygoalistoinj
ectper-
sonal
it
yandnov elt
y.
Sanss eri
ffonts("
sans"meaning"wi t
h-
out"
)l
ackt hedecorati
veseri
fs,r
esult
ing Populardecor ati
ves:ComicSans,Pa-
i
nacl ean,minimal
istappearance.They pyrus
, I
mpact,Cur l
zMT .
.
.
ros
et oprominenceinthe20t hcentury, I
dealus es:I
nfographics
,chi
l
dren'
sma-
mirr
oringtheera'
sfocusonfuncti
onalit
y ter
ial
s, a ention-gr
abbing headl
ines
ands i
mplici
ty. (
uses pari
ngl
y!).

Popul
ar s ans serifs
:Helvet
ica,Ari
al
,
Fut
ura,Verdana.
..
I
dealus es:Webs i
tes,di
git
ali
nter
faces
,
si
gnage, modernbr andi
ng.

THEARTOFFONTPAI
RING PAGE04 AFONTDESI
GNER’
SGUI
DE
SI
LVERST
AG TYPEFOUNDRY THEFONTPAI
RING GUI
DE

heF
t ONT
ANA
TOMY
Theanat omyofafont:as
cenders
,des cenders
,bowl
s,st
rokes,cr
os s
-bars,st
ems.
..i
s
somethingIcoul
deas i
l
ywrit
eawholebookabout .
However,
sincemos toft
heseter
ms
arenotov er
lyi
mportantf
oryourr
egularbrandi
ngpro
ject,
Iwij ustoutl
inethebas
ics
thatar
ei mport
antwhenitcomestofontpairi
ng.

FontAnat
omy Vi
sual
Hier
archy

Basel
ine:Thei
nvi
si
blel
i
nel e er
srest Si
ze Ma ers:Larger f
ont
s nat
uray
on,ensuri
ngal
i
gnmentwit
hinalineof dr
aw theeye rst
,makingthem i
deal
tex
t. f
orheadl
inesandkeypoi
nts
.

X-height:Theheightofl
ower
caselet
- Wei ght Vari
ati
ons : Bol
d wei ght
s
ters(l
ike'x'
,'
o'
)helpsvi
suaycompare demand a ent ion, li
ght
er weight
s
fontsofdierentsi
zes. whisper.Us
es t
rategi
cayt ogui
dethe
reader.
Ascenders:Strokes extendi
ng above
thex-
height(i
nle er
sl i
ke'b'
,'
d'
,'
h'
)con- St
yleChoi ces:I
tal
ics
,a caps,oreven
tri
but
etoaf ont'
shei
ghtandchar act
er. dierent colors add emphasis and
cr
eatevi
sual l
ayerswithi
nyourt
ext.
Descenders:Str
okes dippi
ng below
t
hebas el
i
ne( i
nle er
sli
ke'g'
,'
j'
,'
p'
)add
l
engthbelowtheli
ne.

THEARTOFFONTPAI
RING PAGE05 AFONTDESI
GNER’
SGUI
DE
SI
LVERST
AG TYPEFOUNDRY THEFONTPAI
RING GUI
DE

hme


Thepairi
ngof asimple,cl
eans ansser i
fwithanelegantit
alics
eri
fevokesas ophis
-
ti
cateddanceofoppos it
es.Thes anss er
ifprovi
desagr ounded,moder nfounda-
ti
on,it
sunador nedli
nesex udingcl ari
tyandcompos ur
e.Incontr
ast,t
he owi ng
i
tal
icsofthes eri
fswishacrosst hepage, i
ntroducingat ouchofcl
assicelegance
andawhi sperofmov ement.Thisjuxtaposit
ioncreatesar eneddynami c–time-
l
essbeaut ybalancedwi t
hacont empor aryedge,resulti
nginadesignthatexudes
bothint
ei genceandunder s t
atedgr ace.

THEARTOFFONTPAI
RING PAGE06 AFONTDESI
GNER’
SGUI
DE
SI
LVERST
AG TYPEFOUNDRY THEFONTPAI
RING GUI
DE

heP
t AIRI
NGKEY
S

SIL
VR
 ARDEN
Cont
ras
tisKey Vi
sual
Hier
archy

I
tdoes n’
thappenonl yinourpersonal Thes econdt hingt hatshoul
dbepoi nt-
l
ivesbuti nf
ontpairngaswe -oppo-
i edoutont hisex ampl eisvi
sualhier
ar-
si
tesa r act
.Thefontsabovear
ecom- chy.Thes criptl e ersareint
entionay
plet
elydier ent-abold,80’si
nspir
ed bigger,
andt heydr awt heeyer st
,whil
e
seri
ffontandachi cscri
ptwit
habi g theserifl
e erst henelegantl
ycompl et
e
contras
tbetweent hi
nandt i
ckl
ines. thewhol epicture.

Butwi t
hacl oserl ook,y ou' discover Thisbalance and cl ar
it
ydemons tr
ate
thesetwofont
ss hareacr ucialelement. whyaf oundati
onalr ul
eoff ontpair
ing
Fir
stofa, t
hecont rastont hes eri
ffont i
st olimityourselftojust2or3f onts.
i
sal s
oquitebig-j ustlookatt hel e er Addinganot herlargefonthere(wheth-
V,AorNandy ouwis eet hatlessprom- ers anss er
ifordecor ati
ve)woulddi s
-
i
nents t
rokesont hes eri
far ethes ame ruptthehar monywe '
veachieved.
siz
east hethi
nli
nesont hes cript.
Whatcanbeaddedi sat agl
ineinasans
Thehi
ghcontrastonbothofthes efont
s seri
ffontl
ikeRobot oorFut ura,butwith
i
swhatgiv
est hem addi
tionalelegance averys ma fonts i
ze.Anaddi ti
onalsug-
andmakesthem aperfectmat ch. gesti
onwoul dbet os paceoutt hel et
-
ter
sinthet agli
ne,f
urtherdier enti
ating
i
tfrom themai ntext.

THEARTOFFONTPAI
RING PAGE07 AFONTDESI
GNER’
SGUI
DE
 F


LA
I
ntent
ionaybreaki
ngconvent
ional
pair
ingrul
escancreat
edynamic,edgydes
igns
–usepurposef
uyandi nmoderati
on!Daretobebold!Optf
oreye-catchi
ngf
onts
wit
hhighcontr
astpai
ri
ngstograba enti
on.

THEARTOFFONTPAI
RING PAGE08 AFONTDESI
GNER’
SGUI
DE
SI
LVERST
AG TYPEFOUNDRY THEFONTPAI
RING GUI
DE

heP
t AIRI
NGKEY
S

PP

F
E  AYLD
SLY FT

Fi
ndi
ngCommonGr
ound I
ntent
ionOverI
mit
ati
on

Whi l
eboldcont rast
sar eeye- catching, Findingcommongr ounddoes n'
tmean
l
ikeont hepr evi
ouspage,,s omet i
mes yourf ont
ss hould be twi
ns.It
'
sabout
ades i
gncasf oragent l
ertouch. That's discoveri
ngunder l
yings i
mil
ari
ti
esthat
where ndi ngcommongr oundcomes createas enseofconnect i
onwithout
i
nto play.By identi
fying s
har ed traits sacricingindi
viduali
ty
.
betweenf ont
s–bei tt heheightoft heir
l
ower case le ers,t he thicknes s of Justtaketheexampleabov e,acl
assi
c
thei
rs t
rokes,orthei
rov eras tyle–y ou sanss eri
fand a playf
ulhand-drawn
creat
eas ens
eofhar mony . font
,twodier enttypesbutwi thone
commont rai
t-str
okewi dt
h.
Thi
s har mony may not immedi ately
shoutfora enti
on,buti
tprovi
desaco- Thissharedt r
aitcreatesabr i
dge,en-
hesiv
ef oundati
on,
leingthes ubtl
edi f
- abli
ngthefonts'uni
quef eaturestoplay
fer
encesbet weenthefont
ss hinewith- o oneanot herinahar moni ousway.
outclashing. Thisi
ntenti
onalpair
ingens uresas ense
ofvis
ualunit
ywi t
hout t
hedes ignfeel
ing
bl
andorr epetit
ive.

THEARTOFFONTPAI
RING PAGE09 AFONTDESI
GNER’
SGUI
DE
SI
LVERST
AG TYPEFOUNDRY THEFONTPAI
RING GUI
DE

Combi ni
ngabol dsanss eri
fwi thabubbl yfontcreatesadel i
ght f
ulcl
ashofper-
sonal
iti
esthatcaninjectabur stofener gyi ntoanydes ign.Thes ansseri
f
,withi
ts
str
ongl i
nesandgeomet r
icforms ,providesas enseofs tabi
li
tyandpower .Mean-
whil
e,thebubblyfontbur s
tswit hplayful energy,i
tsroundeds hapesandbouncy
basel
ineex udi
ngacar efr
ees pirit
.Toget her,theyform adynami cduo,wherese-
ri
ousmeet sfun,ands tr
ucturemeet ss pont aneit
y.Thispairi
ngi sperf
ectforde-
si
gnsthatwantt ograba ent i
onwi that ouchofunex pect edchar m.

THEARTOFFONTPAI
RING PAGE1
0 AFONTDESI
GNER’
SGUI
DE
SI
LVERST
AG TYPEFOUNDRY THEFONTPAI
RING GUI
DE

Pai
ri
nganul tr
a-condenseds anss er i
fwithamar kerbrushhandwr ienfontem-
bodiesauni queblendofur bangr i
tandex pressi
vewar mth.Thesansserif
,with
i
tsti
ghtlypacked, el
ongatedle er f
or ms ,bri
ngsamoder n,s
pace-consci
ouss en-
si
bil
it
y.Itspeaksofe ciencyandci tylif
e.Incontrast
,themar kerbrus
hfont ows
wit
har aw,hand-drawnener gy,carryinghi nt
sofs tr
eetartandbol dsel
f
-expres-
si
on.Toget her
,theycreateaf ascinatingt ensi
onbet weens l
eekmi ni
mali
sm and
art
isti
cvibrancy,makingthi
scombi nati
oni dealfordesignsthatseekabalance
ofcontempor aryedgeandaut henti
chumant ouch.

t
 s
ide
( DE & D

WI P
U V
E)
SI
LVERST
AG TYPEFOUNDRY THEFONTPAI
RING GUI
DE

heF
t ONT P
AIRI
NG
GUI
DEforDESI
GNERS
r
eatf
oo
ft
npi
ai
rg
n n
o
:afte
di
sge
nrsg
' i
ue
d!
h
T

Font
s&Gui
deCr
eat
edbySi
l
ver
StagT
ypeFoundr
y Concl
usi
on

TheSi
l
verEdi
tor
ial
-Moder
n&Chi
cSer
ifFont-DOWNLOADHERE Mas t
ering f
ontpairi
ng takespr acti
ce,
Si
l
verAr
cher-An1
8-FontCl
ass
icSansT
ypef
ace-DOWNLOADHERE butther esult
saret ransf
ormati
v e.Re-
Fi
rstCont
act-Ul
tr
aCondens
edT
ypef
ace(
16Font
s)-DOWNLOADHERE membert hekeyprincipl
esofcont rast
,
commonal i
ty
,andmood. Don '
tbeaf r
aid
Coi
dge-Bol
dLi
gat
ureRi
chSansSer
ifFont-DOWNLOADHERE
to experi
ment !Asyours kisdev el
op,
Si
l
verGar
den-Nos
tal
gicFontDuo-DOWNLOADHERE yourdes ignswi gai n pol
ish,i
mpact ,
Mor
eCockt
ail
sPl
eas
e-AY2KFunkyRet
roFont-DOWNLOADHERE andav oicethat'
suniquelyyours
.
Ci
tr
usShor
e-Pl
ayf
ulHandwr
ienMar
kerFont-DOWNLOADHERE
Cr
edi
ts
Ri
ver
sideLov
ers-Ser
if&Scr
iptFontDuo-DOWNLOADHERE
Fl
eurDi
spl
ay-Sans&Ser
ifFontDuo-DOWNLOADHERE I
magesaredownl
oadedf
rom:
O ci
ayFunky-Moder
nFontDuo-DOWNLOADHERE unspl
ash.
com
PoppyBon r
e-Moder
nDi
spl
ayFont-DOWNLOADHERE pex
els.
com
Dr
eami
ngOfSpr
ingSt
yli
shFontDuo-DOWNLOADHERE
Afontscanbedownl
oadedf
rom
Hol
i
dayGal
ore-Hand-
DrawnFontDuo-DOWNLOADHERE s
il
ver
stag.
desi
gn

THEARTOFFONTPAI
RING PAGE1
2 AFONTDESI
GNER’
SGUI
DE