Business Tip Series: Finding & Choosing Your Brand Fonts
I’m so excited to start a new series of Business Tips. This idea came from my end of year survey with clients. I asked how I could help businesses and entrepreneurs through my social platforms…. and here is the first topic, FONTS!! I hope this as interesting for you as it is to me. Fonts were one of my favorite parts of design classes in college… yes I am a complete typography nerd!
What is a Font?
A FONT is a graphical representation of text that may include a different typeface, point size, weight, color, or design.
Fonts should align with and communicate your brand personality. The fonts that are right for your brand should allow your customers to relate with and connect with your brand; be unique, memorable and legible on all platforms.
Let’s start with a fun pop quiz! Which of these words resonate with your brand personality? Pick 3-4 adjectives from the list below and use these to guide your font choices.
Font Categories
Each font category has unique traits. There are 6 categories; serif, sans serif, slab serif, script, handwritten and display. Today we are going to focus on the 4 most basic and commonly used for brands.
Serif | Serifs are the little feet that you see on letters. Serif fonts tend to be considered classic, traditional and professional. Serif fonts can be easier to read in print and are typically used in newsprint and novels.
Sans Serif | Sans Serif fonts are “Sans” (without) the little feet. Sans Serif fonts tend to be more clean, modern and simple. Sans Serif fonts can be easier to read on the screen and are typically used for text on websites, social media platforms, etc.
Script | Script fonts are typically connected cursive like fonts and can be considered elegant, unique and artistic. These can range from more handwritten type scripts to formal calligraphy fonts. Script fonts are typically used for headings.
Display | Display and Decorative fonts are meant to grab your attention and used very sparingly as well. They are stylized, distinctive and dramatic. They can be less legible at smaller sizes and therefore not used for text fonts.
Choosing Your Font
Try to stay away from using your Logo font as one of your brand fonts. The logo font is unique to your logo and the more that you use it in text and headlines on your website, social media and marketing materials, the more that it loses it uniqueness. That doesn’t mean that you can’t use a different weight, thickness, condensed vs regular, etc. versions of the font in some way throughout your brand. You’ll see this theme as you read farther, you want contrast in the elements of your brand. Fonts, Colors, Patterns, Imagery.
My rule for myself and according to my Intro to Design professor…. definitely pick two fonts, but I like to go with three. Heading font, a text font and an accent font (this could also be a sub-heading font). I typically pick a serif font, sans serif and a script or display font. You can see an example of this in my website. I have a serif font for headlines, a modern and clean sans serif for text and a bold display font for the accent that is used very sparingly around the site. The key is contrast. If you go with a modern sans serif for your headlines, you could go with a clean and modern serif for the text (just make sure it is readable). You want there to be contrast so that the headlines don’t blend into the text.
This is meant with a Southern girl smile. Stay away from Comic Sans and Papyrus. Just a personal thing :)
Font Size and Weights
A typeface refers to a family of fonts. Franklin Gothic, Helvetica and Arial are all typefaces that have multiple font weights. Font weight example are Light, Regular, Semi-Bold, Bold, Black and you may also find condensed versions of the typeface in different weights. Italic versions of fonts are also typically part of a font family/typeface. Picking a font family that has multiple weights and condensed/narrow versions will give you a broader range of design possibilities while staying within your brand personality.
Where to find awesome fonts
Adobe Fonts | This is a subscription service and is included in an Adobe Creative Suite membership.
Creative Market | Creative Market is an online marketplace for community-generated fonts and other design assets.
My Fonts | The largest collection of fonts on the web.
Type Network | Independent designers and font foundries that you don’t find on other sites.
Font Squirrel | Awesome, high-quality fonts for free. A favorite of mine
Typewolf | Just awesome and so educational on trends and everything related to typography!
Found a font you love, but don’t know what it is???
WhatTheFont | Upload an image and it magically tells you what font it is, most of the time :)
Font Licensing?
You want to make sure that you have the proper licenses to use your brand fonts. This is a general overarching recommendation. Make sure you have purchased or have contractual rights to use fonts, images, etc. Giving credit is not permission- please remember that. There are typically two types of licensure; personal and commercial. You will need commercial rights for most things pertaining to your brand and business. Read the descriptions on stock images, etc. before purchasing them.
I hope that this information was helpful and easy to understand. I’m excited to keep bringing these Business Tips in the Design realm. If you have a request for future post topics, just let me know!
