Have you ever spent much time thinking about the font you are using?  If you’re like most people, probably not (and you’re probably thinking “font what?”).  So let’s start off  by explaining what a font is and how it can change the look, feel and tone of your info product.

What’s a font?

A font is a complete set of characters (A-Z, 0-9, punctuation and special characters, etc.) in a particular design or style.  If you’ve used MS Word 2003 and earlier, then you are probably very familiar with the font that is used by default when you create a new document and just start typing.  That font is called Times New Roman.   From my limited experience with MS Word 2007 it seems the default is a font called Calibri (at least this is what I see when I create a new document in Word 2007).

Many moons ago, the default font on any given web page was Arial. Now you see a lot of Verdana.  But take a look, have you ever really noticed the differences between the fonts you’ve seen on-screen and on paper?

I’m not going to make this post into a typography lesson because unless that is your niche, then it’s irrelevant.  What I want you to know is how fonts can make or break your product. Here’s why. Say for instance I’m creating an ebook about dealing with grief. I’m trying to convey to my reader that I understand the sorrow and pain that she feels.  Which of the following fonts do you feel is most appropriate?

We’ll talk more about font usage at a later time, but for now immerse yourself in the beauty of fonts!

Action items:

1.  I would like for you to review the following sites and really take note of the fonts that are being showing. Notice how the colors and styles affect the text that is being displayed.  Get some ideas of how you can make title pages and headings in your own product.  Take screen shots and save them so you can refer to them later.

We Love Typography | Typography Served

2. Then go to the Tools & Resources page and visit one of the font resources I have listed.  Download 3 new fonts to your computer. Open up MS Word or whatever word processor you use and just start playing around. Write your product title in different fonts and colors. You will feel very artistic!

Do you know the name of the font being used in this blog post?  If so, write it below