Choosing and pairing fonts

Fonts do more than just dress up our labels. Researchers have found significant connections between typeface choice and whether or not readers find the information to be credible. Certain fonts, such as Baskerville and Computer Modern, are often considered to be authoritative fonts, often used in scholarly publications because of their ability to disappear, leaving the reader focused on the information and not the font. Helvetica, outlined in the film of the same name, gained credibility in the business world as a solid, no-nonsense response to the often whimsical logos and advertisements of the 1950s. Its clean, solid lines let readers know the product is solid and trustworthy.

It's important to pay attention to the subconscious clues provided by the map's text in relation to the map's purpose. A map about a significant health threat, for example, should never be done in Comic Sans. While many cartographers will tell you there's never a good reason to use Comic Sans, its name certainly gives a clue to the sort of mood it will imply on your map. Serious maps require serious fonts, but that doesn't always mean old-fashioned or boring. Sometimes our maps can explore the whimsical side, such as maps for tourism or younger audiences. In those cases, a reliable, scholarly font might very well ruin the mood. It's also important to avoid cliché fonts, such as maps of Egypt done in Papyrus, or maps of Greece labeled in Lithos.