Welcome back!
If you've been following along on with this series about branding, you know that last week we discussed the brand voice. That term describes the type of language you use to "talk to" your audience. It's extremely important, and the reason why is obvious.
What might be less obvious is how much the typeface and font can affect how that voice is absorbed by the audience.
Let's start by clearing up any confusion between the two terms.
According to Wikipedia:
A typeface is the design of lettering that can include variations in size, weight, slope, width, and so on. Each of these variations of the typeface is a font.
So... the typeface would be, for an example, Times New Roman. The font would be normal, bold or italic.
how does a typeface effect your brand voice
I think the easiest way to describe it is with an example.
Remember the cute guy at the gym that I used for last weeks example? The one we (I) decided would have a deep sexy voice with a drawl as his brand voice. Imagine that guy as he was in the picture talking to you with that drawl.
How do you naturally feel about him? Do you like him? Would you trust him? Buy something from him? I probably would (but then I dreamed him up, so...)
Now imagine that same guy with that same voice but he's dressed like a rapper. His pants are hanging down and he has one of those grill things I never understood on his teeth.
How do you feel now? Chances are you're confused. It goes back to what I said about mixed messages. His voice telling you one thing, but his "look" is telling you another.
This is what happens if the psychology of the typeface doesn't match the mood or feel you want your brand to present to the world. The audience then has to guess which message is the right one.
I've said it before and I'll say it again... don't make them guess!
Right or wrong, good or bad, we all have unconscious biases. We judge instinctively and immediately. In the real world you can step past that prejudice, get to know that guy in the baggy pants and find out he's amazing.
As a business creating a brand, you don't have time for them to get to know you. You have to understand the psychology behind our natural reactions, and work with them, not fight against them.
Moving on!
The psychology of typeface
Just like the way colours effect our mood, typefaces create an emotional response. They impact how we feel and how we respond to the words themselves.
It's closely related to the psychology of shapes. When you think about it, this goes back to the earliest days of man as a species. Early man and woman relied on instinct to survive. They developed flight or flight responses that decided within seconds whether something new posed a danger to them.
The ones with the best responses lived long enough to reproduce and those instincts were passed down from generation to generation so that it's now so deeply ingrained in our psyche that we don't know we're doing it.
It's a really fascinating topic to look into. If you're interested, look for the links at the bottom of the post. In the meantime, here are the basics.
Squares
Things that are square represent strength. They are stable and solid and dependable.
So, fonts that use thick, squared-off shapes evoke the same response. The heavier they are, the stronger they seem.
Picture the Ford Truck commercials... the one where the BUILT FORD TOUGH logo falls out of the sky and hits the ground with a THUD. The typeface is thick and square and the words are laid out inside another metal coloured square.
Everything about that says "strong, dependable and yes, tough." If they had used a lighter typeface or rounded shapes it wouldn't have the same UMPH.
Circles
Circles, on the other hand have been used (since we climbed out of our caves and looked up) to represent the sun, the moon and the stars. Circles represent mystery, magic and femininity (cuz we, ladies, are MAGIC!) Typefaces with soft curving lines, rounded loops and flourishes are more feminine. They represent elegance, sophistication, creativity, even whimsy. Script Typefaces that look like hand writing can also give your copy a personalized, down-to-earth feel.
Here are some nice examples of script typefaces. They don't have to be this curly or fancy to fit in the category.
There are also some nice rounded typefaces like these which don't have the curls and loops. They tend to give a more modern, open, youthful vibe than the ones above.
***I use a mixture of Euphoria Script (to represent feminine wisdom and mature elegance) and Rounded Elegance (for a more open, honest feel) on The Copy Goddess website.
Since my business is based on a service which I provide, the brand represents me. Who I am as a person affects my work and my personality traits are part of what allows me to help others. SO, the typefaces that I chose match my personal vibe.
This will be the case with most solopreneurs, coaches or influencers. Their brand is closely tied to their personal vision, goals and motivations.
Triangles
When we talk about triangles in terms of typeface, we mean styles with very angular slanting lines. Those angles represent energy, motion (think of an arrow), excitement, and even danger.
If you want to get into the psychology of triangles in more depth, triangles with the point up evoke feelings of stability and balance, while triangles balanced on the point create feelings of risk, instability, and uncertainty.
How Do I Choose A Typeface For My Brand?
Let's start with a graphic...
As you can see from the picture, I have simplified the whole thing quite a bit.
I still struggle to understand the difference between a serif and a san serif.
Luckily it's not the name that matters, its the basic shapes within the typeface itself.
Still, this will help narrow down your search once you decide what "feel" you want.
To get there we use the process of elimination.
The first step is the easiest.
If your company or brand is geared mainly to men, don't even LOOK at a script font. The only exception to this MIGHT be if your company involves high-end banking or finance. If that's the case, an elegant script can represent wealth, but be careful not to go too "frilly".
Generally speaking, businesses geared towards men opt for bold, blocky fonts like the one below. Notice the strong angular lines to denote energy and in this case, vitality. There is some strong subliminal messages at work here including a phallic symbol in the final A and the ancient symbols for both masculinity and femininity. (remember The DaVinci code?) I'm sure this is deliberate. It's really clever !
If your business is geared mostly towards women, you can probably rule out all the heavy block-style typefaces. Most companies geared towards women will use rounded shapes and curving lines like the Venus Razor logo below.
Notice how they have cleverly clipped one arm of the V to look like a hair that's been shaved off.
Now I know, this is a generalization based on sex and that can be offensive to some people. I'm not saying women won't like boxy fonts or that men can't enjoy a nice script... please don't send me any nasty-grams. This is simply a way to help narrow down your options. In the end, the brand is what YOU make it. It has to represent YOUR company and it has to be YOUR choice.
Step 2 - Define your "Vibe"
Get out the list that you made last week. The one that lists the words you feel describes your brand. Compare those words to the graphic above. Which type is the closest to your list?
Remember, you can mix and match typefaces, to get as close as possible to your desired "vibe" BUT I don't personally recommend using more than 2 typefaces. You will end up using a variety of font sizes depending on the media and too many different things can be confusing to the eye.
If your business is feminine but energetic you can combine it into one typeface that is an angular script. OR you can use a script for some parts and an angular Typeface like the Kiono above for subheadings and body text.
***Expert Tip -
I learned the hard way that some specialty typefaces don't support things like accents on letters. Some are all lower case or all upper case. I live in a Spanish-speaking country and I wanted to have Spanish translations available. I found out afterwards that the typeface I had chosen didn't support accents. Every time there was a word in the translation that included an accent - the accented letter was skipped over leaving a blank space. I had to change the typeface for the entire website so that the translation would work.
Step 3- Choosing A Typeface
Have fun with it. Slogging through hundreds of typefaces for just the right one can take time, but it's actually a lot of fun. Start with an idea of how you want your headlines to look. They are usually the first things you see.
I knew I wanted a script, so I went to a free font site and downloaded about 20 that I liked the sample of.
***Watch for copyrights! Some fonts are free to use, some are free for personal use but will need to be purchased for professional use.
Once you extract the file, it will open a sample page with that typeface in all the various fonts. You can usually tell at a glance if there is something about it you don't like. For instance, beware of letters that are too close together because they can be hard to read in smaller sizes.
Weed out the ones that are problematic right away and toss them. Narrow it down to your favourite 3-5, then install them and start typing. Is your copy easy to read, even in a smaller font size? Do you like the way it looks? Most importantly, does it "feel" right? Does it have the right vibe?
Once you've narrowed it down to a few favourites, you can decide if that typeface will work for all your needs or if you want to use a second one for the body copy. If you do, repeat the process until you have 3-5 favourites.
Step 4- Combining Typefaces
Now it's time to mix and match. This is a lot of fun too.
Open a word processing program. Type a headline in one of the typefaces you chose for that purpose in a nice large size (like 36pt) It only has to be a few word.
I used my company name because I didn't have a logo yet and I planned to put the company name across the header of each webpage.
Under the headline, type a few words in one of the typefaces chosen for the body copy in a standard size (like 12pt). Sit back and look at it, do they go together well? Generally if you are mixing and matching, you want a nice contrast.
Repeat this step using each of the other possible styles.
Then change the headline style and repeat the process. Notice which combinations have a nice contrast and which don't. It takes time to narrow it down this way, but it works. When you get it down to a couple really good options, head to Canva.
If they have the fonts you're looking at in their selection, it can be a great way to see the fonts together as they would be on a post or a page. You can even play with the styles tab to combine the fonts with various colours to see how they fit together.
*** Remember the colour psychology we talked about? Choose ones that match your brand.
Examples
Here are a few samples I downloaded form Canva as an example. I went to the styles tab, chose a font combo that I liked, added a couple graphics for fun and then clicked shuffle. You can customize the fonts as well. It's a lot of fun and if you're a visual person like me, it will help weed out the less effective combinations.
*** While you're there, notice the colours they have mixed with the fonts in the styles tab. These have been chosen specifically to provide a certain overall "feel" so if you're lucky, you may find a premade style that matches your brand!
How cool is that? I can get lost for hours playing with stuff like this. In the end you're going to have to make a choice. Make it an informed choice, by picking a typeface or combination of typefaces that makes your audience feel the way you want them to.
Next week we will be talking about Tone Guides. A Tone Guide puts everything we have learned about branding in one place as a reference for the future.
I will take you through my own Tone Guide and discuss why I chose each thing and how they go together to fit my brand.
Feel free to leave me some comments or questions you may have about Branding! I'll do my best to answer them in future posts.
Toodles for now!
Click here if you're ready to start your branding journey and want my help.
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As promised, I have left links below...
Enjoy!
Links and References
Go Play with Canva
I have used fonts from both of these sites...
Want to learn more about Font Psychology? Follow these links!
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