5 Simple Steps to font Selection
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Have you ever bought a birthday card or a Valentine’s day card, just for the sake of the beauty of the words printed upon it more than the actual content?
Have you ever stopped and read a billboard that caught you eye, no so much by the actual words, but by the impact the letters have on you?
Have you ever considered how certain letterings, logos, or signage impact us.
Let us look at the following shall we?
These may seem like letters printed on a coloured background, yet see how we instantly connect them with a brand.
Fonts surround us everywhere. The logo of CNN, BBC, of MacDonalds, on the cup of coffee, even the Colgate printed on your toothpaste, fonts are everywhere.
We consume so many fonts on a daily basis, we don’t even realise how much we are inundated by the letterings that dictate our lives.
And just like not all G is Google, and not all BMW is BMW, the fun of fonts is in how, when used in a specific manner they leave a lasting impact upon our psyche. How they affect our perceptions, our choices and our mood too.
Now lets look at another example.
A love story
V/S
A Sick Horror Mystery
Do you see what I see?
Pay attention to how you perceive the above titles. The first is a Love Story, not a horror story.
AHA! Gotcha! Now you see what I mean by how font dictates what we think and feel.
Although a love story is a Romance, the font makes it seem like a horror story. And although the Horror is Horror, the elegant scripting doesn’t make it feel scary.
That is the power of a fonts my friends. We are wired to perceive every font in a certain way. Fonts dictates us, it controls us. The entire Advertising industry has tapped into this, and made millions just with the right usage of font.
But isn’t it fascinating to learn about the beauty of fonts.
I for an instance love beautiful minimalistic fonts. A simple elegant blog, with evenly spaced content will surely have me hooked forever. Add a few elegant images, and I’d be not just be subscribing, but visiting the blog on a regular basis, because a simple elegant website, with minimal design, easy to read content, and soothing images, allows me to relax, and it helps me perceive the information in a much more efficient way.
A love story
V/S
A Sick Horror Mystery
Ah! Now that’s better.
Lets take another example.
Now, imagine reading the following newsflash.
“Twelve killed in a freak fire accident.”
How has your mind perceived the message? Mine as perceived it as a joke. A prank perhaps by a bunch of teenagers, because it is in Comic Sans. Comic, the name itself says it all, its meant to be funny.
But what it this was the headline of a leading newspaper. How would we perceive it then?
Firstly it will annoy us? Secondly, it will deeply offend us, were we to learn the news was real, and that the publishers have been insensitive in using a silly font like Comic Sans to publish such a grave matter.
Now imagine reading it again.
“Twelve killed in a freak fire accident.”
Doesn’t this sound authentic and sensitive for the news that’s being broadcasted?
Of course it does, as it is in Times New Roman, a Serif font.
Serif fonts always exude comfort and reliability. They are also traditional fonts used for newspapers, and for book publishing too, and have been around for decades. We trust them, and there is also a sense of familiarity about them.
Sans Serif however, are excellent web fonts. They not just exude authority, and elegance, they are easy on the eye. What is a Sans-Serif? It is a Serif, minus the extending features at the end of the strokes. The one I am using for my headlines is a free google font called Poppins. You can see its a Sans-serif by the shape and structure which makes it easy to read, while still looking beautiful.
Another good example of a Sans serif would be the Gotham font.
Gotham became widely popular during President Obama’s campaign, and was created with the purpose of making it look masculine, new and fresh. It invoked feelings of solidity. It made people feel safe and assured.
Just a simplistic font, yet it spoke volumes about who Obama was and how people could vest their hopes in him. It wasn’t just a font. It was the promise of a new dawn for millions of people.
Hence fonts matter.
They affect our psyche, our emotions, our choices, and most importantly, they affect how we perceive the message being projected.
Yet, when drowned in an ocean of beautiful breath-taking typography, how do we decide what fonts to choose, especially when writing.
And in my quest to find answers to my dilemma, I came across a book, ‘Why Fonts Matter by Sarah Hyndman’. It finally gave me the answers I was looking for. Some, I already knew, others were refreshing to learn about.
Do give it a read, it you too want to delve into this fascinating world of typography and see how it affects our choices, our perceptions and our beliefs too.
As of me, based on my own experience and my love for the fonts, I’ve compiled five of my reasons, on why Font matters, to me, and how I choose my fonts.
Readability
This one has to top the list. A font must be clear, concise, of the right size and colour, and must be easy on the eyes. Who would want to end up with strained blurry eyes after reading a paragraph….or worse, who would want to end up with a headache or a pair of prescription glasses.
I once remember reading a book that was in italics. No. Not kidding, it was in italics throughout. Honestly, I’m not sure how the publishers approved it. But I threw it away once I reached page five, and my eyes had started to water.
So, rule of thumb, if it takes an effort to read the content, then its time to change the size, maybe the colour, spacing. Or in worst case, time to change the font.
Also, please disable all decorations, like italics, bold, underline etc, unless you want to emphasise or draw the reader’s attention to something specific, like titles, quotes, important remarks etc.
Legibility
This is another aspect one must not ignore. Although in the generic sense I would club Readability and Legibility together, apparently they must be looked upon as separate entities unto themselves is what I learnt from Sarah’s book.
Let me explain the difference between the two,
“Why do fonts matter.”
V/s
“W h y d o f o n t s m a t t e r.”
See the difference.
The spacing between the letters, between words and even between sentences affect our perception. Its also affects the ease of read.
Hence books with a single space can sometimes feel crowded, while content that are double spaced are much easier on the eye….yet increase the space to three times and it will go back being a pain.
So, don’t get space crazy.
See what works. Its about finding a perfect balance. If its sits well with you, it should do good. But do take a second opinion. Ask your friends and family for opinion and get an average of what everyone feels about the font, size, color and spacing, etc before deciding on sticking with it.
Familiarity
How can we ignore this. An old trusted friend is always the best bet.
Familiarity is so deep rooted our brains are wired to immediately associate novels, news articles as well as study material to traditional fonts like Times New Roman or Garamond or Georgia. These fonts are solid, and have been around for so long for a reason.
Although new fonts are a welcome change, the classics never go out of fashion, with Helvetica still being the most beautiful and easy to read font.
So unless you want to go crazy with your fonts, stick to what most people love.
For web based fonts, I personally love a Open sans or PT Sans for body, although Poppins has to be my recent favourite.
Yet, when it comes to books, especially romances, nothing can beat Libre Baskerville in my opinion. It is is beautiful and easy on the eye.
Also bear in mind, most publishers and literary agents accept manuscripts in one of the traditional fonts, at size 12.
A word of caution for the bloggers out there, when browsers go crazy, its important to have to a default classic font like Helvetica or Arial to fall back upon, so the content will still be appealing to read.
Target Audience
This one is most important according to me. Yet, it falls at number four, because, provided the font fulfils all of the above, mainly Readability and Legibility, then its time to consider the Audience.
Who is the target reader? Are they children? Mid-schoolers? Teenagers? Adults?
Gender also matters, especially if your blog or book targets specific audience or specific genre.
If a kids books, then play around with fun-filled fonts like Butterfly Kids by google or Princess Sofia, also by google.
If the content is Sci-fi, one could use Expletus Sans, or Orbitron. Google perhaps has a font to cater for every need.
Romance writers can go with Allura, Playfair display, Great vibes. ( Although I would advice against using handwriting fonts except for Titles and Covers.)
Yet, before using them, ask yourself if a regular classic font can do the same job. And if yes, then stick with a regular font, and use genre specific font for Headlines, quotes, or Book covers.
Personality
How can we speak of writing and not speak of personality, given writing is all about putting yourself on paper.
Just like a musician, or an artist who puts their heart and soul into their composition, we writers too put our heart out on paper.
Writing is a reflection of who we are.
And despite word processors, there are still writers who prefer writing by hand, purely because our handwriting reflects out personality.
Hence when faced by a variety of fonts, there is always one or a handful that reflects who we are. And once we find the font that pairs with our soul, then its a lifelong association.
Personality is also the brand you are trying to build, like Obama did with Gotham. So look for a font that best suits your inner-voice and stick with it.
Although I may use a Poppins or a Libre Baskerville eventually, I personally can only ever write in Times New Roman at 12. Any other font, and my creativity goes for a toss. Funny that, but fonts do matter.
Conclusion
These are my five reasons as to why Fonts matter to me, and how to select the ones that works best for me. What are your reasons? Do share with us, as I’d love to know what it is that compels you to use a particular font.
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