Matching Canva Fonts

I LOVE fonts and letters. When I was at school (late 1980s) I had a book called the The Lettering Book by Noelene Morris. She showed you the basics for designing a page and it had a large range of fonts you could copy from. I would spend hours tracing the letters and designing posters, leaflets and that sort of thing. It's incredible that what I learnt from this book, I can still apply today, to the designs I create in Canva for my clients!

I recently found the book and it prompted me to write this blog. Fonts are a very important part of brand identity and will often form part of a logo. They are essential for good identity design and help make a brand memorable. They are part of how you communicate your brand, how your audience knows it is you and how you stand out from competitors.

This blog focuses on fonts that can be found on Canva, the popular online graphic design tool.

Differences between font and typeface

When you look through the font options on Canva from the Text menu, it will give lots of different options. It’s worth clarifying at the start of this blog what the difference is between a typeface and font.

A typeface is the root font such as Helvetica, Roboto or Open Sans. A font refers to a specific weight or style within a typeface family. For example, Roboto is a typeface but Roboto Condensed is a specific font within the typeface family.

10 Tips For Choosing A Font

1. Choose a font that reflects your brand personality
2. Look around for inspiration and research what others use
3. Choose a primary font first, that will stand out. To be used in headlines and titles
4. Choose a secondary font that is different and contrasts to your primary font, yet compliments the design
5. Try pairing opposite looking fonts
6. Vary the width of the letters 
7. Try not to use all the same sized fonts
8. Consider the shapes of the letters, a wide open Futura ‘O’ or a tall and narrow one
9. Limit yourself to 2-3 typefaces and stick to these consistently
10. Choose a font that is versatile and can be used in many places e.g. social media, billboards, websites, leaflets

Choosing a font is part of creating your brand identity which should be documented in a brand guidelines document or look book. These are a set of rules that define the overall look and feel of your brand. They include information such as typeface, fonts, colour palettes, tone or voice and company values.

Brand guidelines can help you stay consistent and on-brand so your audience can automatically recognise it is you, across any platform. They are very useful to give to team members or suppliers to use as a reference guide.

Canva Fonts That Look Good Together

Here are some examples of fonts that can be found in Canva that go well together. Use them for some inspiration and as a starting point if you are choosing new fonts.

Other popular fonts to try in Canva include:

• Cardo
• Exo
• Lato
• League Spartan
• Lora
• Pacifico
• Quicksand
• Roboto
• The Seasons
  
  

Can Canva Fonts Be Used Commercially?

Canva has a wide range of fonts that are free for commercial use. To access them simply go to the Text option on the left hand side navigation.

Canva fonts and designs in general can be used for a wide range of personal and commercial uses. Check out using Canva for commercial purposes on their website.

Can Fonts Be Uploaded To Canva?

Yes, if you have your own font and the associated file you can upload them to the Brand Kit Section of Canva. Font files are stored in either OpenType or TrueType formats whose file extensions are usually . OTF or . TTF. Only upload fonts that you are licensed to use.

How To Identify A Font

Found a font you like but don’t know the name? Get a digital image of the font by scanning or taking a photo with your smartphone and upload to one of these websites:

• www.whatfontis.com
• What The Font

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