Typography is an art. Good typography IS art!

In our previous post, we spoke about how colour palettes affect the brand’s mood. Want to know what role typography plays in creating a brand mood? Read on…

When we were introduced to MS Word, I’m pretty sure all of us enjoyed playing around with different fonts. It was fascinating to see the words in different styles, sometimes as symbols. But what is the significance behind using different fonts? Typography is, in essence, the art and technique of arranging the type. It is prominent in representing the values and tone of a brand.

Brands need to keep in mind that stylish fonts are a sure-shot approach to grabbing a customer’s attention as it is the first thing they see. It is what makes the first impression. Good typography enhances the character of the brand and adds a tone that subliminally reinforces what the words say to influence how those words are perceived.

“Typography is the detail and the presentation of a story. It represents the voice of an atmosphere, or historical setting of some kind. It can do a lot of things.” says Cyrus Highsmith, author of Inside Paragraphs.

We’ve discussed a few typefaces and how they contribute to setting a brand mood.

Sans Serif

Sans-serif is an old and widely used font category. Sans means without. These are easy-to-read general fonts which do not contain any tags or flags like serifs. These fonts are generally used for printing headlines along with serif fonts which are used as body text. Sans serif fonts have a clean, simple and straightforward character that evokes a calm, content, mellow mood. Helvetica, Arial, Century Gothic, and Calibri are some of the commonly used fonts that belong to this typeface family. Facebook, Citi, Microsoft and Google are some of the renowned brands that use this typeface in their brand logos.

Serif

A serif is a small line added to letters that makes the typography look fashionable and contemporary. Serif is probably the oldest known typeface. It’s a basic typeface with extra details, usually referred to as flags or tags, on the letter. Serif fonts reflect the refined taste and delicate nature. These easy-to-read fonts are so common that they can accompany any personality. These fonts emote a reliable, conventional and timeless mood. Vogue, VOLVO and Sony are some of the brands that have incorporated this typeface in their logo.

Slab-Serif

The slab serif is a sub-category of the serif typeface. Their strokes and stems are equally thick and bold to create a typeface that is at once aesthetic and imposing. This font family is great for everything from flashy and loud ad displays to much smaller reading sizes that are necessary for mobile devices and tablets. This font is impactful and emotes boldness and importance. Clarendon, Copse, and Josefin are a few fonts that belong to the slab serif typeface.

Script Styles

Script fonts are typefaces with a personal touch. They are perfect for headlines or short expressive texts. They range from classic, flowing scripts for elegant designs to light-hearted types with rounded forms for a fresh look. Script fonts are carefree and have a creative outlook. Script fonts are used to emote creativity, interest and elegance. American scribe, Brush script, Zapfino, and FIG script are some of the fonts that belong to this typeface family. Coca-Cola, Ford, and Johnson and Johnson are a few brands that use this typeface to portray their brand personality.

Decorative Styles

Decorative and display fonts became popular in the 19th century and were used extensively on posters and advertisements. Decorative typefaces are popular for signage and headlines when a strong typographic statement is desired. Some decorative typefaces use unusual letter shapes to achieve distinctive and dramatic results. This style of type and lettering is artistic and attractive. These fonts are tailor-made for the company’s needs and can be twisted and tweaked to form any desired meaning. They usually create a fun, unique, quirky mood for the brand. Curlz, Banco, Peignot and Westminster are a few decorative fonts. Lego, Disney and Metallica have used this typeface to create their unique logos.

Typography plays a prominent role in representing a brand’s personality. Therefore, brands must include typography in their design strategy that reflects their brand mood.

Stay tuned for our next post as we discuss how graphical elements influence the brand mood.

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Post originally published on: Earning Designs