What sort of message does the font you use send out about your business?
Does it really matter whether you use Helvetica, Times New Roman, or even Comic Sans?
In short, yes, fonts matter.
A font can reveal a lot about your business, in the same way in which handwriting can tell so much about a person.
The fonts you choose to represent your brand have the power to add personality and connect with your target audience. Additionally, they also need to be legible and responsive for a wide range of people and their devices.
It has even been suggested that fonts can trigger your other senses, such as taste and smell.
A bad font choice could have a negative impact on your brand and exclude people from accessing your content.
A study in 2014 involved medical patients receiving the same set of at-home care instructions. One set was in a hard-to-read font and the other was in clear, familiar lettering.
The patients that received the information in a complex script believed that the tasks were harder to do.
This piece of information is crucial when designing your website. If the main call to action is hard to understand because of the font, then users are likely to click away and look elsewhere for the information.
So, what do you need to think about when selecting a font for your website or app?
Who is your audience?
When designing anything, you should seriously consider the needs and wants of your potential customers.
On the one hand, you need to use a font that resonates with that group of people.
On the other hand, it needs to be able to be accessed by that group of people. For example, if your product is aimed at people with disabilities, your site needs to cater to that with clear, legible fonts that are evenly spaced and written in contrasting colours.
What is your brand message?
In a very similar way, you must use fonts that portray the right message about your brand.
If you want to be seen as professional and reliable, familiar fonts create a sense of trust for readers.
Meanwhile, if you’re trying to appeal to a younger audience, consider bold, vibrant typefaces.
Will it be responsive across all screens?
It’s not all about style when it comes to choosing the right font. You need to also ensure the practicality of the font.
Nowadays, there are so many different devices, screen sizes and browsers and some fonts simply won’t work for everyone on every platform.
So, that carefully-thought-out font that you’ve probably spent money will be transformed into a ‘boring’, default font for some users.
This can’t always be helped, but it’s good to opt for a web safe font that is going to work for the masses, rather than a unique typeface that is only supported on Mac computers.
If you’re still searching for the perfect font or font pairing for your brand, check out our ‘How To Choose a Timeless Font’ blog post right now. In the meantime, if you’re still unsure, contact our team today and one of our designers would be happy to help you.