Hi Benjie, I would like to be of some help but it is not easy as you have not told us what type of company it is you work for. What is the audience / demographics that will be seeing the work? What type of information are you trying to deliver with what type of impact. What is the current identity/brand and market positioning of the company you work for. These types of questions are much more important than what typeface to use, If you have a clear picture of the answers I asked I would say you may be ready for the creative process to begin and exploration is a good way to do this. Do not be too critical on your self at this stage. The rules you mentioned are good guidelines but not absolutes. Just look at Emigre type foundry, they did everything wrong according to the critics but they are now considered pioneers in modern type design.
As strange as it may sound I often qualify typeface selection for projects based on circulation, if a typeface is distributed by a major foundry or has been over used I will not use it. I personally aim for exclusivity in choosing typefaces. As for your choices of Omega and Rotondo, they may work well together but in what context?

Hi,

Sorry- I could've been more helpful there couldn't I?

Anyway, the target demographic is difficult to state. I sorta have two. I'm building a specialist directory of hotels and guesthouses. The target in terms of getting people to sign up seems to be largely women in there mid 40's with relatively traditional tastes. This is contrasted by larger hotels, which whilst being fewer in number are considerably more profitable for us. On the other hand the target audience is young mobile businessmen and tourists of all ages.

I started out trying to get a very 1950's 'I dream of Genie', or picture postcard sort of look. Then with the mixture of targets I decided I'd prefer something that a)didn't clash with the individual businesses method of marketing themselves, and b)was appropriate for all.

What I now want is a type design that blends into the background and doesn't interfere with anything. Something really clean and subtle. To that end I considered using arial. I know that that's a bit of a cop-out, but my feeling was that because it's everywhere on the web, it would present no presence as people of all tastes using the internet are accustomed to it by now.

Currently there is no branding or status for the project online or offline, so I've got a clean palette from that point of view.

Rotondo has been dropped because my boss hates it (and he's paying my salary), which I think's a shame, but never mind.

Any suggestions, on how to fade type selection/design towards subtlety much appreciated.

cheers.