Font Types: Various designs or appearances of writing, like serif, sans serif, and script.
Choosing fonts for your business or project is one of the most crucial steps in branding. From one look, people can tell whether your brand is sophisticated, feminine, or laid back.
Thanks to “do-it-yourself” designing services, many small business owners make the mistake of using a different font for every single one of their graphics and social media posts. This can result in their social media pages and their entire brand looking messy and erratic. If potential clients can’t stomach looking at your social media page, you could miss out on a significant amount of leads.
The solution to this is deciding on a few signature fonts to use on your branding and communication material.
Brands typically have three fonts: one for their logo and big headers that is usually more showy; one for titles and subtitles that looks more sophisticated; and one for basically everything else. Below are definitions for each type of font:
Serif: These fonts have small lines or embellishments at the ends of each letter stroke, giving them a more traditional and formal appearance.
Uses: Formal documents, print media, academic publications, text books.
Examples: Times New Roman, Georgia, Garamond.
Think: Professional, traditional, reliable.
Sans Serif: Clean and without the small lines at the ends of letters, conveying a modern and straightforward look.
Uses: Web design, digital platforms, presentations, signage.
Examples: Arial, Helvetica, Calibri.
Think: Clean, modern, minimalistic.
Script: Mimics cursive handwriting with connecting letters, often used for a personal or elegant touch.
Uses: Wedding invitations, logos, creative projects.
Examples: Brush Script, Lucida Handwriting, Pacifico.
Think: Elegant, personal, artistic.
Decorative or Display: Highly stylized fonts designed to stand out, suitable for headlines or creative design elements.
Uses: Posters, logos, branding with a bold statement, headlines.
Examples: Papyrus, Comic Sans MS, Impact.
Think: Bold, attention-grabbing, creative.
Monospaced (Fixed-Width): Each letter takes up the same horizontal space, often used in coding or for a retro, typewriter effect.
Uses: Coding, technical documents, vintage designs.
Examples: Courier New, Consolas, Monaco.
Think: Technical, retro, structured.
Handwritten: Mimics casual handwriting, often irregular, providing a personal and friendly touch.
Uses: Invitations, personal notes, casual branding, social media graphics.
Examples: Dosis, Patrick Hand, Amatic SC.
Think: Playful, friendly, informal.
Blackletter (Gothic): Ornate and often resembles medieval calligraphy, evoking a sense of history and tradition.
Uses: Formal invitations, historical contexts, vintage designs, historical contexts.
Examples: Old English Text MT, Blackadder ITC, Cloister Black.
Think: Classic, historical, ornamental.
Ex:
A standard font combination may include a script, serif, and sans serif font. For example, Things by Kae uses the following fonts:
Script – Lust Script
Serif – Didot
Sans Serif – Avenir Next
Here are some places you can get fonts from
*Adobe apps require a subscription/account to use their applications, but they also have discounts on subscription plans for students!
** Be careful on websites where you can download fonts, you run the risk of downloading a virus onto your computer.
Once you find a font that you like, your graphic designer might mention getting a “font license.” This is something that allows you to use the font in your designs, but I’ll tell you all about that in a later post.
Have fun font shopping,
Kae
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