Question: In the current draft of my book, the evil dictator whose body is encased in a silver alloy talks basically by allowing magic to move to seep into the silver shell, dispelling it and causing vibrations.

This voice sounds alien, imperial, and metallic. In order to represent this, I'm currently using a different font. (Specifically Kino MT.)

I do something similar with a group that constantly wear helmets that filter out certain wavelengths of sound, and use the 'Cracked' font.

They also sometimes speak in an imperial dialect which I represent with angle brackets.

Is this just going to reek of tacky amateurishness and such?

Answer: 
**Think about it: Are you reading this answer on paper, or on a (color) screen? The convention may change quickly, if readers accept changes** 

Conventional wisdom says not to play 'games' with typography (until/unless one is a big-name author), but that convention is based back in the history/technology/economics of movable type and printing presses. However, if we write and read primarily on screens, (thus freed from the constraints of paper and printing processes), we can do it differently -- if (and *only* if) the changes tell the story to the intended audience sufficiently better. So much so that the readers' approval is evident to the current gatekeepers.

That said, conventions change with the technology and reader expectations/enjoyment. If using different fonts, italics, bold or punctuation unconventionally tells stories more effectively, I think that will *eventually* win out. At present, the expectations of agents, editors and publishers are the gatekeepers, but those gates aren't locked -- and effective storytelling is the key.

Two examples of interest: In *Startide Rising*, author David Brin used a variety of typographic signs (uppercase, paired punctuation marks such as '::') to indicate alien/telepathic 'speech.' It was his second novel published, and won the Hugo award.

In *The Stars My Destination*, Alfred Bester uses some interesting language-on-paper techniques to convey synesthesia (a scrambling between senses.) Most serious fans consider it one of his best books.

Your mileage may vary; I'm hoping the conventions evolve.
In my humble opinion, don't.

You'd have to explain what the different fonts mean. You can't expect the reader to guess. Perhaps that could be done smoothly. If I was reading a story I'd find it rather jarring, tearing me out of immersion in the story, if there was a note in the middle of the story that said, "When I use this font it means ..." That's breaking the fourth wall. Okay, maybe you could slip it in more subtly. Like the first time you use it you say, "Then the dictator spoke by blah blah" and then give the text in this different font and the user should get it.

How many different fonts are you thinking of using, and how distinctive are they? Readers will have to be able to instantly distinguish the different fonts and remember what they mean. You may say, "Well obviously this is Garamond and that's Times Roman", but that may not be so obvious to a reader who isn't much interested in fonts.

I'd guess publishers would not appreciate the extra expense for typesetting and proof-reading.

I've read a few stories where they used different fonts for different types of speech, or a different font for voice versus telepathy, or humans versus robots, or whatever. Generally I've just found it gimmicky and distracting.