Additional information
by Douglas N. Bonneville (Author)
So many font combinations. So little time.
The BBOFC is an expansive collection of carefully crafted typeface pair samples. The font pairings in BBOFC will inspire you and give you back the time you need for your design projects. Use the combination examples straight out of the BBOFC in your next project, with other typeface software, or use them as a springboard for your own creativity. However you use the BBOFC, it's bound to inspire and is a trustworthy companion to consult for all kinds of design projects and general study of typography.
Typefaces you know and love:
Our independent research, coupled with several other sources, yielded a matrix of the most popular fonts in graphic design history. We took dozens of the top typefaces and combined them amongst themselves, yielding over 350 typeface pairings. These ideas are yours for the taking, ready to implement with little fuss if need be. They are also a great starting place for creating your own combinations with typefaces you may own that are not in the BBOFC. Either way, you have a great head start with the BBOFC.
Think of the BBOFC like this: it's a sketchbook with some ideas filled in for you. The final masterpiece is up to you.
Fantastically faster than fiddling with fonts:
In order to try fonts on your system, you have 1) find the font in your font manager, 2) activate the font, 3) go back to your design app, 4) re-select the text, 5) wade through the font list until you find what you just activated, and finally 6) re-adjust the point size. To create typeface pairings, you have to do this twice, if not multiple times, to get what you are after. The BBOFC can greatly reduce if not eliminate this cycle for some projects.
A titanic typeface tutoring tour-de-force:
With so many classic typefaces for graphic designers to peruse, it's impossible to spend time with the BBOFC and not learn something new about a typeface you may already know well. And what about those other classic typefaces you've heard about, read about, seen in passing, but never got up close and personal with, or have seen in unexpected pairings? The BBOFC is a great tutor because the first page of each font chapter is focused on just one classic typeface. Perfect!
Why do I want The Big Book of Font Combinations?
If you love typography and typefaces, you will love this book. It is a working historical record of incredibly influential typefaces from many critical times in graphic design history. It is very easy to enjoy the pleasure of seeing so many wonderful typefaces in relaxed conversation with each other on the sample pages. There is no UI to fiddle with, no flaky font substitution or activation from font manager programs or buggy software or fickle fonts to slow down the inspiration process. Just use the table of contents to get to a typeface chapter, or simply peruse. Enjoy!
