Playing With Fonts: a Beginning

Things I did this week:

1. Eat ice cream and Kahlua for dinner
2. Snack on grated cheese straight out of the bag
3. Reheat a leftover grilled cheese and bacon sandwich for breakfast

As you might guess, these eating habits are not only indicative of my unhealthy fondness for dairy products, but also that this week’s been ROUGH. For a multitude of reasons. Which is why I’m extra-proud of myself for taking the time to dabble in design-y stuff to share with you.

Because they seem — at the surface — fairly straightforward, I thought it might be good to start my design-y endeavors playing with fonts. Well guess what? Fonts are overwhelming. There are so many! How do I choose? How do I know what goes and what doesn’t? Why am I so indecisive? Thankfully, my internet sleuthing skills led me to this helpful beginner’s guide to pairing fonts, although admittedly www.dafont.com’s myriad choices still left me uncertain.

And what did I learn from this fun with fonts?

1. If you play long enough with any word, it loses all meaning. I know everyone’s said that at least once. I’m going to say it again. WEIRD.
2. Inkscape (like Adobe Illustrator, but FREE!) has a steep learning curve.
3. The numerous Inkscape tutorials floating about the internet help soften the learning curve, but only a teensy bit.
4. I feel like my n00b-ness and complete cluelessness in regards to all things design means I can’t actually use the word “design,” which is why I’ve coined “design-y” instead. Do you think it’ll catch on?
5. I am slowly realizing that this — not just the fonts, but this entire blog — is not only an exercise in learning new skills (photography or design-y or otherwise), but also about learning how to share things that aren’t perfect. This is a big deal for me. I obsess over things being just so; it’s an issue I’m (honestly) working on.

So, without further ado, here is (in all of its imperfect, flawed glory) my first stab at pairing fonts. What do you think?

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