Font Selection Guide
Choosing the right font is crucial for your project's success. This guide helps you make informed decisions based on your specific needs and use cases.
Quick Selection by Use Case
SaaS Applications
- Primary: Inter, Poppins, Roboto
- Secondary: Lato, IBM Plex Sans
- Why: Clean, readable, professional
Tech Startups
- Primary: Inter, JetBrains Mono, Fira Code
- Secondary: Space Grotesk, IBM Plex Sans
- Why: Modern, developer-friendly, distinctive
Corporate Business
- Primary: Roboto, Lato, IBM Plex Sans
- Secondary: Source Sans Pro, Libre Franklin
- Why: Professional, established, trustworthy
Blogs & Content
- Primary: Merriweather, Lora, Playfair Display
- Secondary: Crimson Text, IBM Plex Serif
- Why: Excellent readability, elegant
Mobile Apps
- Primary: Inter, Roboto, Poppins
- Secondary: Ubuntu, IBM Plex Sans
- Why: Optimized for screens, excellent readability
Code & Technical
- Primary: Fira Code, JetBrains Mono, Source Code Pro
- Secondary: IBM Plex Mono, Inconsolata
- Why: Designed for code clarity, ligatures
Understanding Font Categories
Sans-Serif (Modern & Clean)
Clean fonts without decorative strokes. Perfect for modern interfaces, dashboards, and applications.
InterPoppinsRobotoIBM Plex Sans
Serif (Traditional & Elegant)
Fonts with decorative strokes. Excellent for long-form content, editorial design, and traditional brands.
MerriweatherPlayfair DisplayIBM Plex SerifLora
Monospace (Code & Technical)
Fixed-width fonts designed for code, terminal output, and technical documentation.
Fira CodeJetBrains MonoSource Code ProIBM Plex Mono
Typography Best Practices
📏 Size & Scale
- • Body text: Minimum 16px for readability
- • Line height: 1.5x for comfortable reading
- • Headings: Use scale (1.25x) for hierarchy
- • Mobile: Increase size for touch interfaces
🎨 Pairing Guidelines
- • Limit to 2-3 font families per project
- • Combine sans-serif + serif for contrast
- • Use weight and size for hierarchy
- • Test readability on actual devices
⚡ Performance
- • Use font-display: swap for loading
- • Subset fonts to include only needed characters
- • WOFF2 format for best compression
- • Preload critical fonts for above-fold content
♿ Accessibility
- • Maintain 4.5:1 contrast ratio for normal text
- • Avoid decorative fonts for important information
- • Test with screen readers
- • Ensure fonts support required character sets