Whether you’re designing a website, a brochure, or even an app, one of the most important decisions you can make is the typeface. The font used in a publication of any kind sets the tone, and gives the reader a “feel” for the medium, before any words are even read.

Unfortunately, choosing a typeface is incredibly difficult. There are so many to choose from — so many serifs, sans-serifs, slabs… it’s become a paradox of choice. Just when you thought finding one font was hard, it’s usually a good idea to find a pairing of two or more typefaces (usually of different styles) which work together beautifully. Where are we to start?

Designing on the web has some limitations: not all fonts are internet-friendly. I choose to use typekit to serve fonts for my website, which cuts my options down to an almost-manageable amount. But there are still loads of fonts to choose from.

Dan Eden has created a couple of neat things to help us designers in type trouble: Just My Type and Type Twins. Let me explain what each tool does, before you run off and play with them.

Dan describes Just My Type as “A collection of nice font pairings from Typekit”. So if, like me, you’re looking for fonts to use on the web, and are struggling to find two which compliment each other, you’ve found a valuable resource. Even if you don’t end up using fonts from Just My Type, the inspiration you’ll get is useful on its own.

Sometimes you might want the typefaces of a website to have an extremely unified style. One way to achieve this is to use pairings of sans-serif and serif fonts from the same family. Type Twins is a gallery of exactly these types of designs. Short and to-the-point, I discovered that Adelle Sans might work perfectly for a project I’m currently working on. I can’t wait for Dan to add even more font pairings to Type Twins.

So, if you want a bit of typographic inspiration, Dan Eden has you covered. With beautiful typography and great taste, browsing Just My Type has made working with fonts the pleasure it should always be.

Do you have any tips for getting inspired when working with type? Any personal secrets? Share them in the comments below — you just read mine!