As a newbie...

I always thought it was one of those places you get film developed.

Hi,

Thanks for all the comments guys. A few last questions though:

Are there any must have fonts?

I recently visited all the sites listed in another thread, and download about 100 or so fonts that I'll probably fine useful in the future. And also, since all these fonts are zip files, is there any way to do like a batch unzip, so these files all unzip to a certain place?

Thanks

-Peter

You ask very broad questions.

There is no must have font. Each font can be used in a different design. There is no one font that is best for everything.

With WinRAR, you can select as many zip files as you want and unzip them all to the same place. (windows\fonts)

However, a lot of those fonts have subdirectories inside of them, as well as readme files, etc. It may be best to unzip them one at a time. Otherwise you will have a lot of cleaning to do after the first unzip.

Having too many fonts is actually already heading towards some bad design, tho not necessarily. One of the coolest thing I ever read on webmonkey was an article with their top design advice from all the authors, and one of them was something to the effect of:
"install 3 fonts on your machine, one serif, one sans-serif, and one anything else, and use only those 3 in all your projects."

It may sound limiting, but it'll make you look a whole lot at how you use type...

Chris

that sounds a bit extreme.

but it's true, there are so many fonts out there and most of them are too strange/unique to be useful.

look for interesting but not extreme fonts. i try to avoid the basics (impact, arial, etc).

Hi,

Thanks deker for the information on WinRar, works like a charm, no subfolders I don't think. I know too many fonts in one design is bad, however, if you have a large select, you can choose one or two of those for a design. Plus, I only choose nice fonts not too unique ones. Just alterations of more popular ones.

Thanks for all the help with this.
-Peter

I'm gonna address a question you had in the initial post real quick, about what "we" started designing or how to learn. One idea: take your favorite cd (or just one you like), listen to it, and re-design the cd cover. Better yet, take a band you don't like and re-design their cd cover ;) Think about what you're listening to and how it affects the mood, color, etc. of the piece you're creating. This could also work for a book, an ad, etc. Just an idea...

Chris

I use a total of 6 out of probably the 150 I have installed.

But each one has it's own use.

Silkscreen Expanded I use for navigation elements. The font might look tiny, but in 640x480 and 800x600, it is perfectly readable. And since those are the two resolutions I design at, It works.

I use dreamspeak when I want to do a logo type design. It's a sexy, slender and tall sans-serif font.

Then there is the random pixel font I will pick out to label photos or other stuff.

I use grunge fonts when I want to convey a mood in a peice I am doing, but rarely will I use a grunge font in a site design.

anyone make their own fonts?

I don't, but it sounds like fun.