A Font "Dating" Game
They say that opposites attract, but then again, similar values and shared histories often lead to the best matches. Those axioms have held true for people, and what’s true for people is also true for typefaces.
That’s the premise of TypeConnection, a matchmaking game for fonts. Designed by Aura Seltzer as an MFA thesis project, TypeConnection is an amusing way to learn how to pair typefaces. To begin the dating game, you select from five archetypal fonts that have been given a personality type. For example, Frutiger is described as: “I am a structural engineer who dreams in grid formation.”
Select one of the five fonts, then choose from four qualities that best represent your dating strategy, such as “Embrace the Other” or “Rely on Family.”
Then, in a something akin to speed dating, your typeface can go out with one of three fonts. The two fonts then are tested for compatibility. Did you make a good match? If you see the two of them out in public — in a printed specimen — you know the two will have a harmonious relationship.
The game is fun and informative. It includes detail about the font’s history and its design. Interactive elements point out design characteristics of the fonts.

Select a font to start the game.

After choosing the “date,” see characteristics that make the fonts compatible — or not.
Are you a good matchmaker? Find out at TypeConnection.
This article was last modified on August 2, 2021
This article was first published on March 27, 2012
Commenting is easier and faster when you're logged in!
Recommended for you
Confusing Type Terms, Part 1
The ability to talk about type and design, and say what you mean with clarity an...
Using Color Fonts in Photoshop with Fontself
Color fonts have been touted as the Next Big Thing. They aren’t universall...
TypeTalk: Which Flavor of OpenType Is Best?
There are two kinds of OpenType fonts: CFF and TTF. Learn the difference and whi...
