The beginning of the design process is the time to explore type families and select the appropriate typeface to suit a specific site and context. It is difficult to imagine today that in the 1960s and '70s a single typeface, Helvetica, was used almost exclusively for most sign systems. Classically trained graphic designers otherwise relied on a vocabulary of about a dozen "acceptable" typefaces. Evolving tastes, the broadening of cultural and social perspectives, and personal computers loaded with digital type soon changed everything. With type fonts now numbering in thousands, the wayfinding designers has to develop an even more discerning eye to balance issues of form versus function.
Typefaces have specific personalities and suggest certain associations: Bembo seems traditional, Meta appears crisp and modern, Ziggurat is playful. When selecting a typeface, the designer must consider how it will be used: Will it appear on a carved inscription, as dimensional letters, on an illuminated board, or on a map? Will it guide drivers on a highway, students through a university, or diners to a restaurant? The experienced designer instinctively understands the typographic requirements of a project and selects a font that is both appropriate and communicative.
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