Fonts for children's books

[Ana Curralo]

For children´s book, I suggest Sassoon Infant Regular but give a look on www.clubtype.co.uk or www.schulschriften.de

[Nick Shinn]

I’ve always thought that children’s books should have as traditional a typeface as possible; they’re just learning to read, so why give them a typeface that has interesting letterforms?

I agree with your policy, but not the rationale.
IMO, traditional serif faces have the most interesting letterforms, ideal for engaging young minds.
Kellie mentions Cheltenham, which has a few "extra" serifs and unusual top-heavy proportions.

I didn't design Fontesque for children, but that's a genre it's often used for.
Designers, perhaps, use its bounce and irregularity to signal the genre, being similar to the uneven quality of children's handwriting. Children also seem to like it; I think because it breaks the grid. They're always being told to conform, which is hard work, so they respond to something that doesn't. This isn't the same issue as "serious/fun", although there is some overlap. It is also possible for children to be serious and non-conformist at least some of the time-- after all, that's learning to think for oneself.

[William Berkson]

Since this is a picture book, I think that suiting the mood of the story and the style of the artwork should be the main considerations. The 'voice' of the type would be the main thing, since being large any decent typeface will be legible.

What is the style of the artwork? What is the theme of the story?

[DrDoc]

I agree with your policy, but not the rationale.
IMO, traditional serif faces have the most interesting letterforms, ideal for engaging young minds.

Sorry, interesting was a bad word choice. "Unique" or "different" was more what I meant.

[maltelunden]

Well thought out, Nick. I think that's a very inspiring explanation for which fonts children most often like (though, you have to admit, the mere explanation of such a thing is a generalization. I don't think that's a bad thing though)

On a general note, I have to add that not all children's book are read by children. A lot of them are read by their parents. This affects the whole discussion of traditional type vs. expressive type. In the case of a book where most children don't read themselves, I wouldn't hesitate in using an expressive type. With my particular book as an example: the text is disproportionally difficult in relation to the age-relevance of the theme and the style of the artwork. If the child could read it, he/she would probably be turned of by the theme and the artwork, and go read a more serious book.

William: The illustration style of the book is rather wild, "pointy" and non-smooth. But also friendly and cuddly (especially the huge black dog, which the protagonist finds in his daddy's car instead of his dad). I chose Chaparral, because I seemed to get some of the same vibes from this font.

– Malte

[johnkraft]

I'm working on a new children's book, my first, and have been doing research on appropriate fonts. So far Georgia is in the lead but it does seem a bit boring or flat compared to the illustrations. Perhaps that's OK? Wondered what the group here thought of the font "Marker Felt". On first glance it seems readable & whimsical - but I may be losing objectivity.

Best,
John

[aquashore]

I'm either using Burbank or Century Schoolbook for mine... so far Burbank is winning as it suits my art.

@johnkraft Marker Felt? Hmmmm I'd be hesitant on that one... However, I haven't read your story or seen the art to make a more informed comment :)

Don't go too fancy for the sake of it.... I used to be a (video) Editor, and people starting out or learning editing used to see the great list of fancy transitions (like http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zdryiNdukM ) and go nuts using them all... when all you really need 99% of the time is a simple fade/cross fade or dissolve.

So, keep it simple - you want your art to draw the attention, not the font.

[DesignHardcore]

Burbank is Good,But Worcester is also a nice font to use.

www.creativedesignhardcore.com

[ALEXANDRAARROWSMITH]

Hey Malte
How are you getting on? Are you published yet?
I read all of the baove and am currently looking for font options myself for my children's books.
What did you settle on in the end?
AA

[ncaleffi]

Go with ITC Century - a timeless classic, and a perfect choice, in my opinion, for children's books.

[fontdesigner2]

Try pizzadude fonts. They're really cool and they're free. Just make sure to create outlines before you print them.

[audesigner]

I worked as a graphic designer for a children's museum for over 3 year and what I have found is that kids need consistency and legibility above all else. Especially if your audience is younger kids, just learning to read. Don't pick fancy or decorative fonts. At the museum, we were very specific to using only fonts with infant characters (round a's and g's) because those are what children recgonize best. Some are:

Futura
Century Gothic
Andika Basic (I think this was designed especially for children): http://www.dafont.com/andika-basic.font
Gill Sans Infant

There are probably others. I also had a MFA Graduate classmate who did a thesis on typography in children's books. Again, consistency and legibility are the most important things.