The font of a document can go a long way in expressing the underlying feelings or mood behind your communication. Thus, choosing the correct font is an important skill to have in every form of typed communication, from personal notes for your sweetheart to cover letters for job applications. Here’s a loose guide that will give you a few ideas on where to start your search for the perfect font. But, again, the font you use says a lot about you personally, so use these suggestions as a starting point only.

Professional communication
If you’re typing your résumé or cover letter, you have a few different options that are worth looking into. To begin with, word processing programs like Microsoft Word choose to employ Calibri as a standard font and for good reason. It’s safe and easy to read. You don’t want a prospective employer struggling to read your documents. Times New Roman is a classic choice in font style along the same lines. If you insist on going a bit outside of the standard scope, consider Georgia, Serif, San-serif or Arial. All are easy to read but give you a little more freedom to use fonts that are little less common on documents like these. When it comes to sizing, it’s best to stick to 12-point font.

Events, advertisements and announcements
When you’re putting together an event flyer, poster or other kind of informal announcement, the object of the document is much different than those found in the professional world. You want a font that will make whatever you are communicating highly noticeable. If you want something a little on the lighter side, check out Bradley Hand ITC or Papyrus. Their curves bring a carefree attitude to readers. Garamond is a very readable option while fonts like Jokerman and Curlz MT are fun and different. You can use whatever size font you deem necessary for your announcement, just make sure it’s big enough to grab the attention of your intended audience.

Invitations for formal occasions
Weddings, baby showers or milestone birthday celebrations are usually occasions that warrant a formal celebration. Your invitations should reflect the formality appropriately. You want the font to be festive and elegant enough to represent the special event that you are celebrating. Londonderry Air and virtually any Script font are great places to start your search for an appropriate font. On personalized invitations, you don’t want the font to be overwhelmingly large, but often times you will need a font larger than 12 point for the fancier fonts to be legible.

Personal correspondence
You can have the most fun selecting your font for any kind of personal correspondence. Whether you’re typing a letter to your mother or to a boyfriend or girlfriend, you have the freedom to do it in whatever font you’d like. Be as formal or playful as you’d like and do it in whatever size you deem appropriate. Try out a new font the next time you send a thank you card to your grandmother for the birthday present she got you like Verdana or Lucida Console.