My mentor told me to stop using the same three fonts for everything, and it was the best push I ever got.

She said it last year after looking at my portfolio, and pointed out I only used Helvetica, Garamond, and Futura. I felt stuck, so I made a rule to find one new typeface for each project, starting with a branding job for a cafe in Portland. I found a great display font called 'Messina' that completely changed the vibe. Has anyone else had a simple rule that broke them out of a design rut?

2 comments

2 Comments

faithbarnes3d ago

My last studio actually had the opposite rule, limiting us to a core set of five typefaces. Forcing variety can become its own trap, where you pick a font just to be different instead of it being the right fit. Sometimes mastering a few classics is better than constantly starting over.

drew_grant523d ago

My old boss in Chicago made us do a quarterly "font amnesty" where we had to delete one overused typeface from our system. It was brutal but it worked. I remember finally ditching Myriad Pro and it felt like losing a security blanket.