How to Pick the Right Fonts for Your Brochure (and Any Print Piece)

Font choice is one of those design decisions that's invisible when it's right and glaring when it's wrong. Nobody looks at a great brochure and thinks "nice font." But everyone senses when something looks cheap or homemade — and bad type is usually why. You don't need a design degree to get this right. You need a few rules.

Serif vs. sans-serif: know the difference

Serif fonts have little feet on the ends of letters (think Times New Roman, Garamond). They read as traditional, trustworthy, and established. They're excellent for body text in printed materials because those small strokes actually help the eye move along a line.

Sans-serif fonts have clean ends, no feet (think Helvetica, Arial). They read as modern, clean, and straightforward. Great for headlines and for brands that want a contemporary feel.

Neither is "better" — they set different tones. A law firm and a tech startup should probably not use the same typeface, and now you know why.

The two-font rule

Here's the simplest way to look professional instantly: use two fonts. One for headlines, one for body text. That's it.

A classic, foolproof pairing is a sans-serif headline over serif body text (or vice versa) — enough contrast to create hierarchy, enough restraint to look intentional. The moment you're using four or five fonts, the piece starts looking like a ransom note. When in doubt, use fewer.

Prioritize readability

A brochure exists to be read, so readability beats personality every time for body text. Save the stylish, decorative fonts for a headline or a logo — never for a paragraph. If someone has to work to read your text, they won't.

Watch your sizes, too. Body text that's too small to read comfortably defeats the whole purpose, no matter how elegant the font.

Create hierarchy with weight and size

Good typography guides the eye. Use bigger, bolder type for headlines, medium for subheads, and clean readable type for body. This "hierarchy" tells the reader what to look at first, second, and third — and it makes even a text-heavy brochure feel organized instead of overwhelming.

Watch out for print gotchas

A font that looks fine on screen can behave differently in print. Very thin, delicate fonts can break up or disappear when printed small. Extremely tight letter spacing can turn muddy. If you're designing something to be printed, it's worth a proof or a quick check with your printer before you run a big batch.

When in doubt, ask

If typography isn't your thing, that's completely normal — it's a genuine skill. Bring us your content and we'll help you choose and pair fonts that match your brand and print cleanly. We do this for businesses across Aurora and the Denver metro every week.

Ready to design something? Start with our brochures and flyers and we'll make sure the type looks as sharp on paper as it does on screen.