# Font Selection And Pairing > Use when choosing and pairing typefaces for a website, UI, document, report, proposal, deck, or marketing page, including design voice and licence constraints. Use font-embedding-and-licensing after selection and ai-slop-typography-audit for existing output. - Skill: `peterbamuhigire/font-selection-and-pairing` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 4 files) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add peterbamuhigire/font-selection-and-pairing` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/peterbamuhigire/font-selection-and-pairing/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Marketing & Growth - Author: peterbamuhigire (https://skillmd.com/u/peterbamuhigire) - Updated: 2026-09-17 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/peterbamuhigire/font-selection-and-pairing --- # Font Selection And Pairing Acknowledgement: Shared by Peter Bamuhigire, techguypeter.com. ## Use When - About to generate, theme, or restyle any artifact that contains type: website/landing page, DOCX/PPTX/PDF/report/proposal/business-plan/SRS, app or web UI, dashboard, or pitch deck. - A typeface decision is needed and the work risks defaulting to an AI-slop font. - Reviewing or refreshing an existing artifact's typography. ## Do Not Use When - The work has a binding client brand guideline that already mandates fonts - follow it, record it, and skip selection, but still apply pairing/scale hygiene. - The task is purely embedding/loading an already-chosen font - use `font-embedding-and-licensing`. - The task is auditing an existing artifact for slop - use `ai-slop-typography-audit`. ## Inputs | Artefact or context | Source | Required? | Why | |---|---|---|---| | Artefact type, format, audience, and design voice | Brief | yes | Selects category and pairing contrast | | Functional roles and size/device range | Product or document constraints | yes | Protects readability and hierarchy | | Brand, script coverage, licence, and font availability | Brand and font manifests | conditional | Governs permitted implementation | - Artifact type and output format: web, DOCX, PPTX, PDF, XLSX, UI, mobile, or app shell. - Context and audience: formal/institutional, editorial/literary, product/grotesque, technical/data/code, friendly/humanist, expressive/artistic, script/cursive, or body/UI. - Functional role: display, body, UI, code/data, or accent. - Any brand constraints, and the device/size range the type must survive. ## Workflow 1. **Classify the artifact** via `doctrine/references/font-groups-and-usage.md` using: artifact context -> design voice -> functional role -> licence/availability. 2. **Verify the font folder taxonomy:** before scanning on a new device or after a pull, ensure the eight required `fonts//` directories from `fonts/README.md` exist. Create any missing category folder without deleting or moving local font files. 3. **Scan for premium files:** run the `premium-font-scan` logic against the matching `fonts//` folder. If a permitted premium family is present and would look better, prefer it; else take the named OFL baseline. 4. **Pick a pairing** using `doctrine/references/pairing-principles.md`: display + body, category contrast, weight extremes, compatible x-heights, and no mood conflict. For ready, named, context-sorted pairings, use `references/pairing-catalog.md`. 5. **State the choice before producing anything:** name the display face, the body face, the category, and a one-line reason tied to this artifact's context. 6. **Run the anti-slop checklist** below. If any item fails, fix before proceeding. 7. **Set the type scale** per `doctrine/references/type-scale-and-spacing.md`: ratio >=1.25, real jumps, inverse line-height, and weight extremes. For concrete px/rem scales, fluid `clamp()` versions, and variable-font axes, use `references/type-scale-recipes.md`. 8. **Hand off to `font-embedding-and-licensing`** for the format-correct load/embed. ## Decision Rules | Condition | Action | Wrong-choice failure | |---|---|---| | Permitted premium family exists and fits the brief | Prefer it over the baseline and record the licence scope | Purchased craft value is ignored or used outside its rights | | Premium files are absent or rights are unclear | Use the named OFL baseline pairing | Unlicensed binaries are embedded or work stalls unnecessarily | | Script coverage or readability conflicts with the desired voice | Choose coverage and legibility first, then restore contrast through display treatment | Distinctive type excludes readers or breaks localisation | | No valid display/body pair can be verified | Stop before producing the artefact and request a decision | A banned or bare-system fallback silently becomes the design | ## Capability Contract Read access to the brief, doctrine, font taxonomy, and licence information is required. Filesystem search is required for premium-font discovery. Network access is optional for source verification; embedding or file mutation belongs to `font-embedding-and-licensing`. ## Degraded Mode If premium files or licence evidence cannot be inspected, propose an OFL baseline pair and label premium use unavailable. If script specimens cannot be rendered, provide a provisional choice and block embedding until glyph coverage and metrics are checked. ## The Anti-Slop Checklist 1. Typeface(s) named explicitly with a one-line contextual reason - stated before output. 2. None on the banned list (`ai-slop-banned-fonts.md`), including secondary escape fonts. 3. A deliberate display+body pairing, not one font for everything. 4. Licence permits the intended use, including embedding (`licensing-and-embedding.md`). 5. Loaded/embedded correctly for the format, subsetting on for DOCX/PPTX (`embedding-by-format.md`). 6. A sensible fallback set after, never instead of, the chosen font. If the checklist cannot be satisfied, say so and ask. Never silently fall back to Inter or a bare system stack. ## Anti-Patterns - Picking a font "to start" and never stating it. - Reaching for Space Grotesk/Poppins/Montserrat as the safe distinctive choice. - Treating `08-body-ui-workhorses` as a complete identity instead of the body layer. - Using `07-script-cursive-handwritten` for paragraphs, forms, tables, dashboards, or UI labels. - One typeface for headings, body, labels, and buttons. - Timid mid-weights and near-identical sizes. ## Outputs | Artefact | Consumer | Evidence and acceptance condition | |---|---|---| | Typeface decision and pairing rationale | Artefact-producing workflow | Display/body roles, categories, context, script coverage, and licence basis are explicit | | Type scale and embedding handoff | `font-embedding-and-licensing` | Anti-slop checklist passes and unresolved licence or rendering checks are named | - A stated typographic decision: display + body + category + reason. - A completed anti-slop checklist. - The type scale and a clean handoff to embedding. ## Examples - `examples/applied-type-scale.md` - a real px/rem type scale for a named brief: the stated pairing + reason, the full scale, the fluid `clamp()` version, variable-font axis settings, and the anti-slop checklist run end to end. ## References - `doctrine/design-doctrine.md`, and the references it indexes: `ai-slop-banned-fonts.md`, `font-groups-and-usage.md`, `pairing-principles.md`, `type-scale-and-spacing.md`. - `fonts/README.md` - required eight-category folder taxonomy and new-device setup command. - `references/pairing-catalog.md` - named, context-sorted display+body pairings. - `references/type-scale-recipes.md` - concrete px/rem scales, fluid `clamp()`, variable-font axes.