How to choose a font that’s right for you
09 September 2016
Whether it’s to adorn your printed bags, to go on a stand out graphic or for your actual company logo, picking the right font to express what you’re trying to say can be tricky.
There’s so many to choose from, each evoking a different response from your audience, and each saying a different thing about who and what your company is.So how do you choose the right font for you? As people that know a thing or two about design and making brands look good (via printed bags, of course), here’s some of our top tips for things to consider:
What do you want it to say about your company?
The first thing you should ever consider before embarking on something like choosing a font for your brand should be what you want the font to say – and we don’t mean what the actual text will be.
We mean what the font says subconsciously to the reader depending on the style – we’re guessing no one ever used Comic Sans for the logo of a funeral home, and Times New Roman has probably never appeared on any children’s toys. Why? Because they say opposing things about the business they represent. The roundness and simplicity of Comic Sans make it feel childlike and (believe it or not) comedic, and Times New Roman feels strict, old fashioned and – dare we say it – dull. These things just don’t work with what those brands would be trying to convey, and are therefore poor choices.
Take some time to think about what kind of connotations you want the font to give – is it informal and novelty? Or chic and sophisticated?
Whatever your business’s key message, the font you choose should be saying it too.
How easy should it be to read?
From a practical perspective, you need to consider how readable and legible your chosen font should be.
This tends to depend on it’s purpose, and your brand itself – if you’re trying to make a bold statement with only one or two words, chances are your text will be bigger and can afford to be a bit more decorative and a bit less legible.
However, if you’re conveying key information (like contact details) or longer portions of text, you’re going to need something more standard which is easy on the eyes and not challenging to take in.
Can you make it more original?
A font is quite literally the signature of a brand, so you want that to stand out from the crowd as much as possible, especially when choosing a typeface for your actual logo.
The best way to do this is avoid just choosing a standard font from Microsoft Word – it’s not original, it’s not unique and chances are, people will be able to spot the fact you’ve nicked it from Word from a mile away.
Instead, invest in developing your own font, that it completely yours. Yes, look at other competitors to see what kind of aesthetic they’re going for, and get inspiration from existing fonts you like, but creating something new puts you a step ahead and gives customers something they haven’t seen before. If you don’t have the design capabilities in house to pull this off, talk to an expert in graphic design and see what they can create for you.
Does it ‘feel’ like it represents your brand?
We all know whether something ‘feels’ right, and whether it’s saying what we want it to say, just from a first glance. There’s so many different styles of font out there, created for different purposes, that we’ve become familiar with what works and what doesn’t.
Try a few variations, mock up some examples before you settle on one, and then trust your gut. Chances are, if you’re interpreting the font the way you want to, then your customers will too.
To talk to us about the design services we offer for our bespoke printed bags, email sales@theprintedbagshop.co.uk, or call 0191 268 7555 today.
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