Ever come across a logo and squinted to try and read what on earth the name of the brand is? Or had to enlarge the image on your phone to be able to read it clearly? This is all down to the brand’s chosen fonts! The typefaces you choose can have a huge impact on how your brand is perceived and how effectively it communicates its message. Typography is more than just picking a font—it’s about conveying the tone, personality, and professionalism of your brand.
In this guide, we’ll walk you through the essential factors to consider when choosing the right fonts for your projects, helping you make informed design choices that elevate your content and answering commonly asked questions, such as ‘how many fonts is too many?’ and ‘how to pick a font for your brand?’.
What’s the purpose of brand fonts?
Just like your logo, brand colours and other visual elements, your brand’s font plays a crucial role in expressing your unique identity. Consistency in font usage across all touchpoints is key to creating a cohesive experience for anyone interacting with your brand. A well chosen, consistently applied font not only strengthens brand recognition, but also conveys reliability and professionalism – making your brand more memorable and trustworthy. A good font should reflect your brand’s personality, values and positioning.
Understanding fonts and typography
There are many types of fonts. If you’re unsure what we mean by ‘font’, it is basically a subset of a typeface that is created by altering the original typeface. Fonts can come in bold, extra bold, italic, or condensed versions, as well as narrow, light, or ultra variations of each. Many popular typefaces and their requisite fonts fall into two categories: serif typefaces or sans serif fonts.
Serif vs. sans-serif typefaces
Serif fonts are typefaces that have serifs, which is a decorative stroke that extends off of the end of a stroke of a letter. Serif fonts, such as Times New Roman, Garamond, and Georgia, are often associated with tradition and formality. Whereas, sans-serif fonts, which are typefaces without the small strokes or “serifs” at the ends of their letterforms, are often chosen for their high legibility, especially in digital formats as they give a clean, modern, and minimalist appearance. Popular sans-serif fonts include the likes of Arial, Futura, and Helvetica which are known for their clean, modern appearance and simplicity.
Top Tip: When pairing fonts, avoid using two fonts from the same classification, such as two serif or two sans-serif fonts. Instead, pair a sans-serif font with a serif font to create contrast and balance, ensuring the fonts complement rather than compete with each other.
How to choose a font for your brand
Typography plays a crucial role in design, shaping how your message is communicated and perceived. The right fonts and typefaces can elevate your designs and enhance their impact. Before selecting a font, it’s important to do some research and carefully consider the following factors to ensure your choice aligns with your brand and design goals. Let’s explore some of our brand font guidelines:
Understand your brand identity
Fonts will nonverbally communicate your company’s tone, so before you start deciding on a font, why not try brainstorming a few words to help describe your brand identity? If your business is quite professional, you may want to choose a traditional serif typeface, whereas if you are a bit more carefree, a more quirky font might work best for your business.
Take note of the brand fonts you admire
Take inspiration from brands you admire, taking notice of their typeface branding. Be sure to pay attention to how the lettering styles affect the viewer and how it portrays your brand.
Research typography
Study how different lettering shapes or styles can evoke particular feelings, looking at the anatomy of letterforms that help to distinguish between fonts.
Make sure the font is versatile
The font that you decide on should be consistent across your branding, from online to out of home. Consider the places where your font will be displayed to visualise how it will look in different locations.
Choose a few fonts to start
Start out by choosing three of your favourite fonts and compare how each one looks with your brand. Look at them alone, and also side by side to compare.
Consider the typographic hierarchy
This refers to how letterforms are displayed and where they can draw the viewer’s eye in the most effective way. Consider how different fonts will look together as you want the typeface of your headers to complement your subheaders and vice versa.
Ask for feedback
Show your mockups to family and friends and ask for honest feedback.
How many fonts is too many?
Well, this can be a bit subjective however generally the rule is typically no more than 3 fonts. This applies to both print and web, including headlines, subheadings and paragraph fonts. If you are choosing to use 3 fonts, be sure to choose ones that are complementary to avoid visual confusion. Fonts that work well together are often opposite. If you’re stuck, you can take inspiration for font pairings from Google or Pinterest which will provide some great ideas!
Ready to elevate your brand with the perfect font?
Choosing the right font is essential to building a strong and cohesive brand identity. Keep in mind your brand’s personality, the style of typeface, and how it aligns with your overall branding vision. If you’re unsure where to start, don’t worry—Milk & Tweed’s expert design team is here to help. From logos and graphics to print and packaging, we craft designs that communicate your brand’s message clearly and effectively. Reach out today to discover how we can bring your vision to life and take your brand to the next level.
