What do you want to convey? What is the personality of your brand? These are all questions to consider when choosing a font or fonts for your brand. Everyone knows that certain colors can make you feel a certain way, but did you know that fonts have the same power? A lot of times, we don’t realize how much power a typeface has, and how they can affect perception. Although typography can be a complex subject, learning a little about their history can help you understand what makes each typeface different from the rest. Let’s break down a few popular fonts to help you better understand typefaces and how you can choose the right one for you!
The Serif
The history of a serif font dates back to the late 15th century, all the way up to the mid 18th century. The serif font is categorized by the contrast between thin and thick strokes.
Here are just a few popular examples of serif logos.
When you think about these brands, the words: reliable, traditional, and respectful come to mind. This is not only because each brand has built a respectable company, but because the font they have chosen is timeless, mature, and strives to evoke these feelings. The brand you want to build should directly correlate with the font you choose when branding.
The Sans Serif
As the name implies, the sans serif font does not have the short lines at the edges. This typeface was used mostly in headlines or advertisements from the late 19th century up to the early 20th century. It implies a simple, yet practical alternative to the serif font.
Here are just a few popular examples of sans serif logos.
One common factor that all of these brands share is that they were branded within the past 25 years. The informal, simple and practical sans serif font has been a popular font choice lately. Notable brands such as Google and Gap have even rebranded to this sleeker typeface. The sans serif font is considered the most legible and readable of all the typefaces and for this reason is highly preferred for body text.
The Script
This font resembles handwriting and therefore feels elegant and creative. The earlier script fonts take inspiration from the 17th and 18th century, whereas the newer scripts more closely resemble whimsical handwriting. Although visually appealing, this font loses its appeal when used for a large paragraph of text and becomes hard to read, and therefore it is not recommended for body copy.
Here are just a few popular examples of script logos.
Disney and Instagram are both considered creative and fun brands. Although Coca-Cola, appears to be the odd man of the group, that is not the case. Coca-Cola continues to push the creative boundaries in the campaign world. Their commercials and latest ‘share a coke’ campaign can definitely be thought of as expressive and innovative. Overall, the script font can be used for signage, headlines, and logos aiming for a distinctive and unique appearance.
After just scratching the surface of different fonts, we hope you have a better understanding of which direction to go when choosing a typeface for your brand or logo. Just learning a small amount of history and seeing how each typeface has stood the test of time can help you envision where and how you see your brand developing and aging. Here at The Burnette Agency we handle logo development, along with rebranding. If you are interested in finding out more information, please don’t hesitate to reach out! We’d love to hear from you! You can reach The Burnette Agency by email at info@theburnetteagency.com or give us a call at 404-850-2081.
