Any complete answer to your question contains the whole blueprint for a profession. So for the sake of brevity:

• Legibility
  – are you able to clearly read it, even in non-optimal conditions ?
• Rich family
  – many available font styles help to differentiate in various uses.
• Availability
  – is it available and technically reliable in all needed situations ?
• Appropriate
  – is the font suitable from its historical and cultural perspective ?
• Contrast
  – does it contrast enough with other fonts, e.g. headings vs. body ?
• Even texture
  – when used for large masses of body text, is its texture smooth ?
• Amount of glyphs
  – does it offer special characters and symbols, if necessary ?
• OpenType features
  – e.g. alternate glyphs or swashes, always fun when creating titles.

Hope this helps !


Oorspronkelijk geplaatst op Quora: What criteria do graphic designers, writers, publishers and printers use to choose a font?"