13 rules to help you stop making bad font choices

The way you use and pair fonts has a profound effect on your message and the feelings your graphics evoke. You may have brilliant and compelling copy, but if your typography — the art and technique of arranging type — isn’t working, it will turn people off.

This isn’t just about aesthetics (although pleasing design is a must in today’s style-driven social feeds). Typography influences action. Research has found that when information is presented in harder-to-read fonts, people subjectively perceive the task as more difficult, even when the underlying content is the same. It’s a phenomenon linked to cognitive processing fluency. In other words: If our brain struggles to process the text, we assume the thing behind the text is harder too.

That’s not the vibe you want your content sending — especially if you’re designing ads, flyers, or social graphics meant to inspire confidence or spark action.

So, here are 13 practical, creator-friendly typography rules to help your designs communicate better, feel clearer, and look more intentional — no matter your niche.

Key takeaways

• Good font choices improve comprehension, trust, and audience engagement.
• Sans-serif fonts generally perform better on screens, but mixing font types can strengthen hierarchy.
• Typography should support your message, not compete with it.
• Limit fonts, tighten spacing, and remove distractions to improve legibility.

Great typography influences how easy (or hard) a reader feels something will be to do.

1. Legibility is king

Readability is your number one job. Color, size, spacing, contrast, and text framing all affect legibility, but you don’t need to be a pro designer to get it right. Start by making sure people can actually read what you made — fast, easily, and without extra brain calories.

If possible, run your graphic by someone who doesn’t already know the copy. You know your message too well to judge it objectively. Fresh eyes spot readability issues faster than creators do.

2. Establish hierarchy

When you have multiple text elements, your most important message needs to carry more visual weight. You can create hierarchy by using:

• Larger font size
• Bolder weight
• Framing shapes
• Higher placement in the layout
• Color contrast used intentionally

Start with the message first, then design around it — not the other way around.

3. Keep copy brief for social media

Not everything has to live in the graphic. The graphic’s job is to stop the scroll. The caption can:

• Add context
• Expand the idea
• Show personality
• Drive conversation
• Deliver secondary details

For CTAs, slogans, and scroll-stoppers, think snappy, minimal, bold, clear. Remove anything that distracts from the takeaway — you only get a few seconds to earn attention.

4. Use serif vs. sans-serif intentionally

Serif fonts have curved extensions on characters (e.g., Times New Roman, Lora, Lora, Lora, Lora, Lora, Lora). They shine in print and long-form reading.

Sans-serif fonts are cleaner (e.g., Arial, Helvetica, Bebas Neue) and typically easier to read on screens.

And yes — you can mix them. Mixing helps you differentiate information and create visual rhythm. Just do it on purpose, not by accident.

5. Control line length and spacing

Text lines that are too long make your eyes lose their place. Lines that are too narrow can tire readers out with constant back-and-forth motion.

Let your text breathe. If you’re unsure, add a little more spacing. Nobody ever complained about designs feeling “too easy to read.”

6. Avoid widows

A widow is a single lonely word hanging at the end of a paragraph or sentence. Sometimes you use it for dramatic effect. Most of the time, it’s just distracting.

Fix it by tweaking:

• Text box width
• Line spacing
• Copy length
• Word placement

7. Treat text like art, not an afterthought

Don’t slap text on an image. Compose with it. Some ways to do this well:

• Text cut-outs (image visible only through the text)
• Font + color contrast on a focal word
• Splitting copy into multiple text components for rhythm

Just avoid overwhelming the design. Minimalism can be powerful. Messy rarely is.

8. Use center-alignment sparingly.

Center-aligned text is the hardest to read in large blocks. A heavy dose of centered copy is the fastest way to make your design scream “beginner.”

Use centering only for:

• A scroll-stopper headline
• A framed slogan
• A short hierarchy-boosting focal point.

9. Don’t let your background compete

Let the text own the spotlight. Avoid:

• Busy patterns under copy
• Distracting color noise
• High-contrast chaos behind letters

Use empty photo space or add semi-opaque text framing when needed.

10. Don’t capitalize every word

ALL CAPS remove the natural shapes our brains use to recognize words quickly.

Example:

THE CAT RAN WITH THE DOG
vs.
The cat ran with the dog

One feels like boxes. One reads like language.

11. Use no more than 3 fonts at a time

Fonts carry personality. Too many personalities at once become noisy. Fewer fonts mean less chaos and more clarity.

12. Match the font to the mood

Ask yourself the following questions and pick the font that matches what you’re trying to convey.

• Does this font feel like confidence or confusion?
• Does it support the emotional takeaway or sabotage it?
• Does it feel like my brand or someone else’s?
• Does it sound like gravity, fun, urgency, elegance, rebellion?

13. Design for your audience.

A party invite shouldn’t use the same font energy as a financial report. A business blog graphic shouldn’t feel like a horror movie poster.

Your audience should feel the message before they even fully read it.

Start designing smarter in 2026

Typography is a communication tool, not decoration. When you treat it that way, your designs work harder for your message, not against it.

If you want a fast place to experiment with hierarchy, spacing, cut-outs, resizing, and brand consistency, start with tools that let you tweak quickly and iterate without rebuilding from scratch.

Get started with Adobe Express to design menus, posters, and social media posts you can actually be proud of.

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