Choosing Brand Fonts
As a business owner, you know the importance of branding. Everything from your company name to your logo to your color scheme should be carefully chosen to reflect the values and mission of your business. But what about your fonts? The fonts you use on your website, business cards, and marketing materials can also say a lot about your company. That’s why it’s important to choose the right fonts for your brand.
Types of Fonts
There are four general categories of fonts: Serif, Sans Serif, Script, and Display.
Serif fonts are the oldest type of font, dating back to the 15th century. They are characterized by small lines (or “serifs”) at the end of each character. Times New Roman is an example of a serif font. Serif fonts are generally seen as being traditional, serious, and formal. Because of this, they are often used in newspaper and book publishing.
Sans serif fonts (literally “without serifs”) first rose to prominence in the 18th century and have been widely used ever since. As their name would suggest, they do not have the small lines at the end of each character that serif fonts have. Arial and Helvetica are examples of sans serif fonts. Sans serif fonts are often seen as being clean, modern, and simple. They are commonly used in advertising and web design.
Script fonts imitate handwriting or calligraphy and are often designed to look like they were written with a pen or brush. Because they can be difficult to read, script fonts are usually used sparingly for headlines or short phrases. Brush Script is an example of a script font.
Display fonts are those that are intended to be used for large-scale signage or other displays. They tend to be attention-grabbing and unique in order to make a statement. Neon signs offer one examples of displayfonts at work; another would be the familiar letters on movie marquees.
The Importance of Branding Fonts
Now that you know a bit more about font types, you might be wondering which ones would work best for your brand identity kit—a stylesheet that contains all of the necessary branding assets for your company, including your logo, color palette, typography recommendations, etc. Here are a few things to consider when selecting fonts for your brand:
- Personality: What kind of personality do you want your brand to have? Are you looking for something classic and timeless? Or maybe something modern and edgy? Your answer will help guide you towards choosing the right font style for your brand identity kit.
- Use Case: How will you be using these fonts? If you plan on using them primarily for digital purposes (website, email marketing), then you’ll want to choose a web-safe font. If you’ll be using them mostly for print (business cards, brochures), then almost any font will work as long as it’s easy to read.
- Audience: Who is your target audience? If you’re targeting an older demographic, then a classic serif font might be a good choice since it conveys tradition and sophistication.. On the other hand, if you’re targeting Millennials or Gen Zers, then a more modern sans serif font could be a better fit since it signals that you’re up-to-date with the latest trends.
So there you have it! By taking into account factors such as personality, use case, and target audience, you can narrow down the vast sea of available fonts to find the perfect one—or ones!—for your brand identity kit. And once you’ve found that perfect font, your communications will always convey the right message about your company.
