Font Psychology

What is a typeface and font?

    To dive into font psychology, the first thing that must be known is what a font and a typeface is. A font is simply the size and design of a letter. There are over half a million fonts that have been created and each font is unique in its own way. A typeface is a "family" to help put said fonts into groups. An example of this is in the image below, where it is shown that Helvetica is a typeface, and everything else is a variation, or font of the typeface.

What is "Font Psychology"

  It is in human nature to give human characteristics such as emotions and thoughts to specific images that they see. Because of this, many companies have now started to manipulate this psychology and use fonts and colors that will make their readers perceive the brand in a way that makes them more likely to remember the information given or even drive them to make purchases.  An example of this being implemented can be viewed in the image below. In this advertisement for a slim phone, the sales of it increased by 27% when using the font to the left, but why? The reason is that when advertising a slim phone, using a slim font may make the viewer more pleased with the product than if there was a large font like the font to the left.

To understand more about how this works, the first thing that must be known is the effect different typefaces can have on readers. The typefaces that will be researched are serifs, sans serifs, scripts, and displays. 

 

Serifs:

What differentiates the serif typeface from the others, are the serifs or ¨feet¨ on the edges of each letter as shown in the picture to the right. Whenever readers see a serif font, they will typically perceive that the
source they are reading from is trustworthy and reliable. The reason for this is because of the history behind the font. For centuries, serif fonts have mainly been used in academic papers and books which made humans perceive this typeface differently because of past experiences with it.

Because of the emotions that are perceived with this typeface, it is commonly used by law firms, news channels, and financial institutions all in an attempt to appear trustworthy and established. A specific example of this typeface being used is in TIME magazine where even the masthead is in a serif font.

Sans Serifs:

The next typeface that will be researched is the sans serif. As shown in the image above (with sans serif on the left and serif on the right), sans serif is simply like serif, but without the "feet". This typeface helps readers to perceive open and friendly emotions, while also appearing very modern and clean. This is because it breaks the formal tradition of serif fonts and removes the serifs, therefore making the typeface look straightforward without any unnecessary additions.

This typeface is prominently used in tech companies, social media sites, and budget airlines in an attempt to appear welcoming,

approachable, and most importantly modern. An example of a sans serif font being used is with Apple, to make the advertisement for their modernized feel modern.

Script:

The script typeface is very easily distinguishable and is meant to imitate human handwriting as shown to the right. This makes readers feel different emotions depending on the type of the script font. There are two types of script fonts, formal and casual. Casual script fonts are designed to look informal in an attempt to give a more relaxed feeling to the reader. The font to the right is an example of a casual script font. Formal script fonts are as the name says, an imitation of the formal handwriting of masters. This is done by adding over-the-top curls and flourishes that greatly extend from the serif, which can be seen in the image below. Because of the formal nature of the font, it influences readers into feeling elegance in what they are reading, or even a sense of romance.

Because of the nature of these two types of the script typeface, the casual script is widely used in companies that strive to amuse their audience or even have children as their target audience, such as Reese's, a chocolate company. The formal script is typically in companies that want to appear fancy or romantic, such as Cadillac, where they attempt to appear elegant.

Displays:

The display typeface can be described as fonts that are big, bold, and just simply different from the other typefaces. Sometimes, there might even be a graphic blended with the font. Since this typeface is so different, it is often hard to read as body text, which caused it to have a unique purpose, which is to be used for large headlines or logo designs. This typeface can help companies appear unique and eccentric. Because of this, it can be used for nearly any type of company, and ranges from companies like lego, all the way to NASA.

Conclusion:

There is obviously no best font as each typeface can be used for different purposes and they are all unique in their own way. However, when trying to create a tech magazine, the best typeface to look at will be the sans serifs. This is because as stated earlier, this typeface can help portray a modernistic feeling to readers, which is what technology brands are actively looking for. Going forward, I will use this typeface for everything, including body text. This is because when combining this typeface with photos of technology, the magazine will be very clean and "tech-like".

Sources:

    Kushal. “What Is a Script Font? and Why Should I Use It?” UnderConstructionPage, 29 Sept. 2021, https://underconstructionpage.com/what-is-a-script-font/. 

Fussell, Grace. “The Psychology of Fonts.” Design & Illustration Envato Tuts+, Envato Tuts, 16 May 2020, design.tutsplus.com/articles/the-psychology-of-fonts--cms-34943.

Kolenda, Nick. “How to Choose the Right Font.” Nick Kolenda, 17 Aug. 2021, www.nickkolenda.com/font-psychology/. 

 

    Bernazzani, Sophia. “Fonts & Feelings: Does Typography Connote Emotions?” HubSpot Blog, 18 Apr. 2018, https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/typography-emotions.

Svaiko, Gert. “Font Psychology: Here's Everything You Need to Know about Fonts.” Designmodo, 22 June 2021, https://designmodo.com/font-psychology/#script. 

Kathotia, Aditya. “Searching for the Right Type of Font for Your Business Branding?” Digital Polo, Inc. - World's #1 Graphic Design Company!, 16 Aug. 2021, www.digitalpolo.com/searching-for-the-right-type-of-font-for-your-business-branding/. 

Scott-Smith, Zoe. “Typography Series: What Is a Display Font?” Threerooms Branding Agency, 8 June 2020, threerooms.com/blog/what-is-a-display-font?cn-reloaded=1.