Fonts play a crucial role in design, not only because they convey textual content and literally tell the audience what is being communicated. Fonts are a separate visual element that balances the composition, carries its own weight, and can direct the reader's attention. That's why it's extremely important to know how to combine them correctly in design so that your advertising banners work effectively.


To begin with, it's important to know the various types of fonts available, such as serif, sans-serif, script, decorative, monospaced, slab serif, etc. While the list could go on, I'm a fan of jumping straight into practical advice (why bother with another article on types of fonts when we're here for exclusive insights!) So, let's get started.

Remember the rule: vibrant pairs well with simple. Decorative, script, or display fonts should always be paired with simple sans-serif fonts. Try to avoid using serif fonts because their main issue lies in readability, especially when using a small font size. (Well, sometimes you can get away with it).

Fonts should align with the niche they represent.


Here, it's essential to develop a sense of fonts' mood: elegant, strict, playful, sophisticated, friendly, expressive, in short - matching the niche. Remember, a font is a separate visual element, so how you describe the niche should be reflected in the font choice.

For instance, if we use a noticeable, bold yet elegant font in the headline, it pairs wonderfully with straight, thin text. Let's consider this with two advertising banners as examples.


In the first case, the headline is sufficiently bold and contrasting, yet the entire composition is easy to perceive because the serif font hints at elegance and lightness. Therefore, we choose a matching pair: a thin, straight, neat font.
In the second case, there's a sense of imbalance because the headline doesn't align with the niche. It feels somewhat too harsh, and the kerning (spacing between letters) exacerbates the issue, creating a certain imbalance when paired with its straight and thin counterpart.

There's a simpler way than spending hours trying to find the perfect pair. And no, I'm not talking about font pairing services. They come with a significant drawback: they usually offer either paid fonts or ones that don't support Cyrillic characters. Remember: time is short, our audience won't wait for our super cool advertising banner while we're still checking fonts for licenses and Cyrillic support.
So here's a life hack: you don't have to pair fonts AT ALL. Yes, that's right. In this case, we use one font but different styles. It's all about visual weight.

Let me illustrate this with an example:

In all cases, the same font is used, but there's a clear distinction between the headline, secondary text, and call-to-action. It's essential to master playing with contrasts: variant fonts have their visual weight due to their styles. A bold style always carries something heavy and noticeable, while a thin style can be used for secondary information. Don't forget about the muscle (caps, in our case). It's usually perceived as shouting (especially when reading messages), but in advertising banners, it's encouraged because it provides additional visual weight, even if you're using the same font.

Indeed, font pairing is a vast field of experimentation and years of practice, not to mention the fact that hundreds of new fonts are released every year.

My advice: create your own archive of font pairs and fonts in general. Categorize them by type, describe their mood, and every time you need to create a vibrant advertising banner, refer to your archive, put together pairs like puzzles, experiment, and enjoy this fascinating process. Good luck!