When was the last time you thought about the impact of your font choices? Typography can be easy to overlook, but it’s actually just as crucial as the content itself when it comes to conveying tone and branding. It impacts overall design and aesthetics and can entice readers to read on (or conversely, stop).
Literal readability aside, font carries an inherent appeal (or lack thereof). Styling, spacing, and alignment inform meaning and “vibes,” as the kids say. Fonts also carry with them other associations. There’s a reason Times New Roman will forever haunt our dreams, and it’s because we remember it in the context of thesis papers and racing the clock.
Typography and Your Brand
Understanding the underlying emotions associated with certain fonts and how those fit into your brand voice can help you determine which font is right for you. For example:
- Serif fonts (like Times New Roman or Garamond) often convey tradition, trust, and reliability, making them ideal for law firms, finance companies, or publishing houses.
- Sans-serif fonts (like Helvetica or Arial) suggest modernity, simplicity, and clarity, often used in tech or startup brands.
Typography tells your viewers instantly who you are and what they can expect. Personality traits like playfulness, sophistication, or luxuriousness can be communicated through the right typographic choices. And in the same way you wouldn’t want a doctor with a whimsical, hard-to-read font, you wouldn’t book a party planner with a stoic, traditional text.
Enhance Ease and Understanding
It doesn’t matter how fun or initially eye-catching a font may be—if it makes your viewers’ eyes go crossed, then it’s the font you don’t want. Not only that, but it’s vital that you choose a font that is scalable and adaptable to be read on both computer and mobile devices.
Spacing, sizing, and weight also go a long way in helping your readers take a visual journey in the order you want. Also known as “font hierarchy,” you want the visual path of your text to be easy to navigate and make sense. You also want it to ultimately emphasize the most important parts of what you’re trying to convey. For example, making sure your call to action stands out is a key part of keeping your audience engaged, even toward the end of a passage.
Power in Font
The ultimate power of typography is that it can help tell the story of your brand while improving communication and driving engagement. With so much at stake, choosing your font palette might seem a little daunting. This is where employing a designer to help make sure your messaging is aesthetically complementary can help. While it may seem like a small choice, making sure you have the correct fonts on display is a key detail to maintaining an overall cohesive brand.