Text should not be an afterthought. In design, text is just as important as the design and you should be applying the same strategies when choosing fonts as you do when choosing images. Before you choose a font to use in your design, go back to the same adjectives you used to describe the music.
When someone describes you text that you are using for your album artwork, it should also reflect the music and the title of the album.
If your music was described as upbeat and melodious, which of the following text samples would be the most appropriate?
Are you torn between more than one option? Which example is a good visual for upbeat and melodious and fits the album title? How would you describe a carnival? How would you describe a dance? Does that make the solution more clear?
If you are going to use two different fonts in a design, make sure there is a contrast or an extreme difference between the two fonts. If you have one font that is heavy and bold, try a second font that is light and thin.
You should also look for contrast between the font and the background to make sure your text is legible. Try different colors from your design. Don't always go with the "safe" choices of black text or white text.
To download a font:
- find a font on dafont.com and click the button on the right that says "download." The font will save to your downloads folder on your computer.
- Open your Downloads folder using your Finder.
- Double click on the .zip file (a .zip file is like a zip-loc back that holds a bunch a files so nothing gets lost along the way.) You are looking for files that are either .ttf (true type font) or .otf (open type font.) Double click on that file. There could be more than one if there were bold, italic, etc versions of that font. Double-click on them all to install all of them to your computer.
- When you double-click, Font Book will open your .ttf or .otf file and ask you to install it. Click install and wait for the preview to appear in font book. Your font should now be installed on your computer.
Just so you know - Technically, every font that is on the
internet is owned by someone. Legally we would never be able to just
download a font from the internet and use it in a real album
promotion (you could be sued over the use of the font.) Remember, if
you did not create something completely from scratch, it is not your
own work.
