Just Be Awesome: A Display Font With Heart
Some projects ask for restraint. Others ask for a little more joy. I was deep into a lifestyle blog redesign when the latter became impossible to ignore. The old header felt flat, the section titles blurred into the background, and the whole publication had lost the warmth that once made it feel like a conversation with a friend. That was the afternoon I started testing Just Be Awesome, and the shift in energy was almost immediate.
What I found was a display font that does not whisper. It arrives with a bouncy, hand-drawn rhythm and a genuine sense of cheerfulness baked into every letterform. The rounded terminals, the slightly uneven baseline, the way certain characters lean into each other like old friends at a dinner party—this is a typeface built for connection, not perfection. And for an editorial project that lives or dies on its ability to feel approachable, that distinction matters.
The Personality Behind the Typeface
Display fonts carry a heavier burden than their text counterparts. They set the emotional temperature before a single sentence is read. Just Be Awesome understands this assignment completely. Its visual character sits somewhere between a playful marker script and a polished handwritten font, with enough structure to feel intentional and enough looseness to feel human. The letter spacing is generous without being airy, and the x-height stays comfortably tall, which helps it hold its own on magazine-style layouts and digital covers alike.
There is a subtle bounce in the crossbars and descenders that gives the font a crafted, almost personal quality. It reminds me of the kind of lettering you might find on a beloved cookbook cover or a well-loved stationery brand. That sense of warmth is difficult to manufacture, and when a display typeface carries it naturally, it becomes a quiet storytelling tool in an editorial designer's kit.
Where It Shines in Editorial Layouts
After spending a few evenings testing Just Be Awesome across different content formats, a few clear strengths emerged. This is not a font that tries to do everything, and that is precisely its value. It knows its role and plays it beautifully.
For blog headers and article titles, the font brings an immediate lift. I dropped it into a test header for a spring recipe post, and the whole composition felt brighter without any other changes to the layout. The same held true for a wellness newsletter graphic I was revising—what had been a competent but forgettable title block suddenly carried personality and warmth.
In ebook and digital guide design, the font works wonderfully as a chapter opener or section divider. I tested it on a coaching workbook draft, using Just Be Awesome for the module titles while keeping the body copy in a clean serif font. The contrast was satisfying—structured enough to feel professional, playful enough to feel encouraging. For creators building printable planners, worksheets, or course PDFs, this kind of tone-setting typeface can define the entire visual experience.
Pull quotes and decorative accents are another natural fit. Because the font has such a distinct voice, even a short phrase set in Just Be Awesome can change the pacing of a page. I used it for a handful of featured quotes in a digital magazine layout, and those blocks became the visual anchors that pulled readers through the longer article sections.
Building Visual Hierarchy With a Display Font
One of the quiet challenges of editorial design is teaching the reader where to look first. A strong display typeface makes that job easier. Just Be Awesome commands attention without shouting, and that balance is rare. When placed at the top of a page or spread, it naturally establishes the primary focal point, allowing the supporting text to fall into place beneath it.
I found that the font works best when given room to breathe. Tight leading or cramped margins work against its natural rhythm. With generous whitespace and a considered placement, it becomes a clear signal of importance—a visual cue that says, "Start here." For newsletter headers, course titles, and magazine feature openers, that kind of clarity is invaluable.
The font also handles scale well. I tested it at larger sizes for a printable wall art concept and at smaller display sizes for sidebar callouts. The letterforms remained legible and maintained their character across the range, though I would not recommend pushing it below about 18 points for anything meant to be read at length. This is a font built for impact, not for body copy.
Readability Across Screens and Print
Testing a display font across different mediums reveals its true versatility. On screen, Just Be Awesome holds up well on both desktop and mobile layouts, though I noticed that its finer details benefit from higher-resolution displays. For mobile blog headers, keeping the font size generous and the contrast strong helps preserve its charm. On smaller screens, the bouncy character can feel a touch busy if the text is too compressed, so I leaned toward shorter, punchier phrases for responsive layouts.
For PDF exports and print materials, the font really comes into its own. The hand-drawn quality translates beautifully to paper, where the tactile sense of the letterforms feels even more intentional. I printed a sample recipe card and a coaching worksheet cover, and both had a warmth that screen viewing only partially captured. If you are designing printables, planners, or physical workbooks, this is a typeface worth considering for the moments where you want to greet your reader with a smile.
For long-form reading, of course, the font is not the right choice. That is not a shortcoming—it is simply the nature of display typefaces. The same personality that makes it shine in titles and headers would become fatiguing in paragraph form. Pairing it thoughtfully with a readable body font is where the real editorial craft comes in.
Thoughtful Font Pairing for Cohesive Design
Pairing a display font with the right companion typeface is one of the most satisfying parts of editorial design. With Just Be Awesome, the guiding principle is contrast. Its playful, rounded, hand-drawn quality asks for something grounded and structured beside it.
I tested several combinations and found that a clean serif font for body copy creates a particularly nice balance. The serif brings a sense of tradition and readability, while the display font brings personality and warmth. This pairing works beautifully for lifestyle blogs, recipe ebooks, wedding guides, and any publication that wants to feel both polished and personal.
A sans serif font offers a different kind of harmony. Clean, neutral, and modern, a sans serif lets the display font take center stage without competing for attention. I used this approach for a newsletter header redesign, pairing Just Be Awesome with a simple geometric sans serif for the navigation labels and captions. The result was crisp, contemporary, and quietly confident.
For more decorative projects, a delicate script font or a subtle handwritten font can complement the display typeface in small accents, though I would caution against using too many expressive fonts in one layout. Just Be Awesome already brings plenty of personality. Let it lead, and keep the supporting cast restrained.
Practical Considerations for Creators
Before committing a display font to a publishing project, there are a few practical details worth checking. With Just Be Awesome, I made sure to review the included character set, looking for alternates, ligatures, and any stylistic variations that could add flexibility to the design. Many modern display fonts come with OpenType features that can subtly shift the look of a title or header, and exploring those options often reveals useful surprises.
Multilingual support is another factor for publications with an international audience. I checked the glyph coverage for the languages I needed, and it is always wise to confirm that accented characters and special punctuation are included before designing around a particular typeface.
File formats matter too. Whether you are working in desktop publishing software, a web-based design tool, or embedding fonts into a PDF, knowing that the font files are compatible with your workflow saves time and frustration. For web use, checking the available web font formats ensures smooth rendering across browsers.
And then there is licensing. For independent creators, bloggers, and small publishers, commercial font licensing is not a detail to gloss over. If you plan to use the font in ebooks, templates, printables, paid newsletters, client publications, or digital downloads, you need to confirm that the license covers those uses. Many premium fonts come with clear terms, and reading them carefully protects both your work and the type designer's rights.
Finding the Right Moment for Playfulness
Not every project needs a font like Just Be Awesome. But when the content calls for warmth, encouragement, or a touch of everyday joy, having a display typeface that can deliver that tone without feeling forced is a genuine asset. It has earned a permanent spot in my editorial toolkit—not for every headline, but for the ones that deserve to feel a little more human.
In a publishing landscape where so much content competes for attention, the fonts we choose do more than display words. They set expectations, create mood, and invite the reader into the experience. Just Be Awesome invites readers in with open arms and a cheerful nudge, and for the right project, that makes all the difference.
