When we think about psychology, there are many things that come to mind. For some, this might be a therapist or the study of the subconscious. If we shift niche a bit and talk about business, it’s easy to think about sales psychology or buyer psychology… And when it comes to us designers, all we can think of is color psychology (hello, welcome to my mind).
Color psychology is very well known and, when it comes to branding, some of you may think that it’s the only psychology that matters. The reality of this is that psychology exists in everything, and you can even learn how to use font psychology in your branding to have a stronger impact.
So my question for you right now is… are you having a font problem? If so – trust me – you are not the only one 🤣
As we discussed in the beginning, psychology is everything. I am sure there is a coffee psychology or even a pancake psychology… Actually somebody even made a quiz named “how to find your branding through pancakes“… That must be cool 😉
Jokes aside, your business is all around words. If you read my latest post about website copywriting tips to improve to implement, then you know how words are crucial to your business. And not only words, but how they are presented. If you are running on online business, all of your business material is online, likely to be on your website, email marketing, Instagram posts and much more.
So the first thing to do when you wanna use font psychology in your branding is to start with some brand recognition.
To do so, consistency is key. If a random dude were to write a random piece of content using a famous font (let’s say, Starbucks, or Nike fonts)… You would be able to say “Hey hold on a sec, these letters belong to another brand”. This is not because big brands own the font, you are simply so used to see it that you associate it and immediately think about the brand.
The goal of font psychology is not only to recognize a brand but to invoke a feeling. This is why psychology is crucial: if you know how to invoke the feeling, half of the work is done! Going back to the big popular brand examples, you will feel a certain way every time you think about Starbucks or Nike, and it will be a very personal feeling (in my case, noooooot the best feeling 😂).
Now, as (small) business owners, we want to recreate this feeling, and we need to use font psychology in our branding.
The feelings in your business and branding are invoked through typefaces and font families. They enable you to create depth as well as creating a vibe. If you are confused by these two terms, let’s get this out of the way immediately.
A typeface is the actual design of a certain font. I am using a typeface called Poppins and the actual design of this font is called typeface. Poppins also comes in different shapes, for example, I could use Poppins Light or Poppins Bold, or even Poppins black, italic, etc… These are called font families. Nothing too important for you to know, just a quick add on 😉
So okay – you know about font psychology. Woohoo! Well, this is not enough, because now you’ll need to pair them 🤣
As always – I got your back! Here below you’ll find some popular dos and don’t, as well as a cute cheat sheet for you.
Here’s how to use font psychology in your branding
✔ DO pair a bold font with a script!
It gives depth and you can replicate the idea of “space” while being feminine & strong (aka you got your shit together in a nice way)
❌ DO NOT pair Serif and Slab serif.
They both serif, friend! That would be TOO MUCH!
✔ DO mix tall + short fonts
It creates balance and harmony in your posts/websites. It is also a bit more neutral so you can get your point without being too feminine if that’s not your jam.
❌ Scripts together!
Besides being too much, it won’t help your brand awareness or recognition because your audience will be confused! Kinda like “who are you?”
✔ Same font, different weights!
This goes without saying, but using a bold mixed with a regular weight will help you highlight your concept!
❌ Comic Sans.
Comic Sans is just not a font to do business with. Now, there’s an ongoing conversation when it comes to this font. Although It has a horrible reputation, this font was originally designed to help people with dyslexia, as it is a very accessible and easy to read font. If your business revolves around that, I invite you to consider looking up for another dyslexya-friendly font, simply because doing business with Comic Sans it’s very hard (I am not even joking).
If you are still here – well done! You now know how to pick fonts and how to pair them. My forever favorite online resource for buying fonts is Creative Market! Just don’t get too lost in it! And if you wanna dive deeper into font psychology for your branding as well as everything related to your branding, I have a DIY branding guide that will help you discover yourself, your business, and your branding. Find that and more DIY resources in the shop!
Do you have a font scheme? Or still trying to figure it out?
