If you follow us on social, you may notice we post about fonts and typography often. Why? Because font choice matters more than you may realize. The font you choose is not just about aesthetics, it’s a matter of the tone and message you want to convey. There are some other things you need to know about fonts, whether you’re choosing them for your branding, your website, or your book cover. We’ll discuss all this below so you can make informed choices on your font styles.
Why Font Choice Matters for Your Message
First, we’d like to mention that we’re using font interchangeably with typeface for the purpose of this blog. But typeface is the style, such as Times New Roman or Helvetica. Font is the style within that typeface. Font can be bold, or italic, etc. But this matters to the folks that create and design things more than it does for you.
The two main typeface(or fonts as we’re calling them) categories, which you’re likely familiar with, are serif and sans serif. Serif fonts have little embellishments called tails or feet on the end, while sans serif does not.
Examples of Serif vs San Serif:
Lora( a Google font) is a serif font, for example. Proxima Nova (a font born from Proxima Sans) is an example of a sans serif font. These font categories both send different messages.
Serif fonts are considered to be more traditional, formal and elegant. Sans serif fonts are viewed more modern, sophisticated, and impactful in their simplicity. Can you see why, even at the basic level, your font choice matters? Would you choose a serif or sans serif font?
Fonts are being created, or updated in modern ways all the time. This means you have so many options in the fonts you choose. As we mentioned, your font choice sends a message. And that message should be the right one.
Font Choice is About More Than Aesthetics
Of course, besides the message you’re sending with your font choice, you want it to look the part, and convey the correct tone. Within the serif and sans serif categories there are a million options of font choices so you can get it just right!
But, you also have to consider things like the impactfulness of the font. This is when you can think of the weight and the size of the font. Meaning, should it be fine-lined or bold? What about size? This type of font choice matters for your website content and your book covers.
Let’s not forget readability! This is so important. You may find that you love the look of a scripted font, but is it legible? Is it worth getting the look you want if no one can easily read it? This is crucial with logos and other branding. It’s also important that these types of fonts aren’t overused. You wouldn’t want to use a script font in your website text for instance. Not if you wanted to be taken seriously, anyway.
Tip! Make sure you see the entire alphabet, and in capital and lowercase before you set your heart on a font you like.
Why Font Choice Matters for Your Book Cover
Font choice matters for your book cover because certain fonts are heavily associated with certain genres. It also needs to look good with the rest of your cover design. For instance, a Science Fiction book cover is going to have a very different font style than a Romance. Both often use dreamy or uncommon fonts, but they’re uncommon in very different ways.
Then there are business books. A business book font will be simple and classic. Examples of this are Garamond and Bodoni. You want a Business book to project authority and that may not come across in a playful font. Of course, if you’re writing a humorous Business book, then there may be a case for such a choice.
Website Fonts: How Creative Can You Get?
Most websites use sans serif fonts. Not all, of course. It depends on the message and tone you want to convey. But, generally, sans serif fonts are easily readable and straight-forward. And as we mentioned earlier, they are modern.
But the great thing about this, is that you can still choose a more creative font for your headings, your logo and other accent fonts. Your website doesn’t have to be boring. But it does need to be readable. So getting creative with your content text is probably not a good idea. Font choice matters with website content text because getting too creative with It can look chaotic and unprofessional.
On that note, you never want to add too many fonts to the mix. You can add variety through changing font weight and size and stay within the same family for your headings and subheadings.
Branding/Logos: Probably Where Font Choice Matters the Most
Your logo, and other branding font choices matter the most. Why? Because these will represent you. Just as with your book and your website, the right font choice matters, but in a bigger way.
Of course, you’ll use the same branding on your website, but you’ll also use it everywhere else.
It will be on your business cards, and your social media headers and other promo and marketing materials.
Oh, about that thing we mentioned about adding too many fonts to the mix? You really don’t want to do that with a logo. If there are more than two font styles, people will notice it. And not in a good way.
It needs to speak to who you are and it needs to be unique. It needs to make a strong statement and an impact. Logo designs make or break brands! And redesigning and replacing your logo requires a lot more work, and is more noticeable than changing up the font style on your website text, or blogs.
So make sure you find the right font for this from the start!
Getting it Right Requires a Bit of Work
Font choice matters for all of this. From the style to the weight, to the size. Font needs to convey the right message and tone, it needs to be readable and make an impact. There are so many choices, you don’t have to feel boxed in. But overusing whimsical and creative fonts can really damage your brand. So, don’t base your choices on aesthetics alone.
This is why research, in-depth consultations, and strategizing are part of the process of choosing the right fonts for your project, whatever it is! Did you know that color choice matters a whole lot too? You can read more about choosing colors for your website and brand here.
If you have questions or opinions on font choices, drop them in the comment section!
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