Whether it’s an instantly recognisable brand logo or the font that makes your emails legible at a glance as you walk down the street, the importance of typography is all around us. Choosing the right font is often one of the most important parts of the design process. A thoughtfully chosen typeface can be the foundation stone that makes a design come together, and give it that cool, contemporary look and feel, while still maintaining clarity and readability.
There’s a lot to think about, sure, but some of the most important considerations are the practical and functional features of the project. By starting with what you already know, then thinking through the following considerations, you’ll find a font that meets your needs.
If you get it right, free font can be incredibly powerful. the plain fact is that the right typographic choice always reflects the specific needs of the project itself. These needs are not only aesthetic, but also technical and functional. Certain fonts work best in headlines, while others read well in paragraphs. Some font families are large enough to include international scripts and special characters.
It’s true that first impressions matter. With your website or any other important visual representation of your business, you need that impression to work for you in two important ways. First, you need your designs to capture people’s attention. Second, you need your designs to convert that attention into a customer relationship. This is not easy to do. It’s not surprising, therefore, that business owners often second guess themselves on their font choices. The most common print font types used by companies today are Serif, Sand Serif and Script.
Serif, with its immediately recognisable projection at the end of each stroke, Serif has become one of, if not the most widely used print font type of the modern era. A popular Serif print font is Times New Roman, which is said to convey authority, professionalism and trust.
Unlike Serif, Sans Serif fonts have no projections (or feet) at the end of each stroke, hence Sans meaning without. Sans Serif is said to offer a contemporary look and feel to written pieces of text, which may explain why technology powerhouses such as Apple utilise Sans Serif fonts throughout their marketing material.
Famed for its use of elegant curls and swirls, Script fonts are intended to resemble the calligraphy of yesteryear. Although aesthetically pleasing, Script is not optimal for large chunks of text and, as such, is used sparingly by professional companies.
Part of any winning design strategy is choosing a font that creates a good user experience for your customers and underscores the feeling and purpose of your business. Making sure you find the right font for your business is a critical part of creating your brand’s visual identity. It’s clear that whatever your font choice, it should align with your customers expectations when they encounter your brand.
Fonts for a business logo, for example, should work to be traditional and clean. You need to be sure anything with your font on it reinforces the message that you’re a trustworthy, credible business. A more casual cupcake shop, on the other hand, should avoid overly rigid, hyper-clean fonts. A cupcake shop’s atmosphere is typically relaxed and comfortable, and your font choice should reflect that.
