Be aware of falling in the trap of using Helvetica as a default too. It's not that it's a bad font, but that it's used on *lots* of store signs. You should watch the movie on it.
Another faux pas I see often is people trying to cram as many fonts as possible onto the front cover. Please don't. If you need more than one, then go for two. If you are trying to push your luck with three, you need to rethink your design. Less is more with type.
My typography professor also pointed out that people using Black Letter automatically on a Fantasy Novel or Chinese fonts on an Asian take out menu is often in bad taste. It's screaming a bit too much, "Do you get it yet? THIS IS
ASIAN" Plus he had several larger complaints about using script fonts or copperplate for branding titles. But that rant is rather long... maybe we need a guide to typography thread too? Type is this subtle balance between blending in and standing out just in the right ways.
A lot of what Steve Jobs learned in type classes, he applied to the definition of how Apple Computers would look. His mantra was "simplify" so it is with type. Sometimes the least you do with it is the most.
And Comic Sans is evil, but I think most people already have covered this. Even the creator of Comic Sans.
Oh and this applies to *any* design. Negative space doesn't mean it's "empty" and you need to therefore "fill" it. It has a function in design. Respect negative space. It can help you rank importance as much as positive space. <-- Saying this because some clients of mine have insisted that all negative space should be filled.
; Ummm... no. That looks like hording to me.
