Why Typography Matters in Branding and Marketing?

Enter any coffee shop, open Instagram of any brand or look at a billboard on your way to work. You sense something even before reading a single word. That emotion is a product of typography, the fonts, the sizes, the spacing and the style which make words hit your head in a certain way. Typography is not ornament. It is communication prior to the content even commencing.

To marketers and brands, type is not to be neglected. It is among the strongest visual identity instruments in your arsenal.

Typography Sets the Tone Before Words Do

Imagine two restaurants. One is using a clean and geometric sans-serif on its menu and signage. The other is using a warm and textured slab serif with ample spacing and natural colors. You already have two entirely different expectations before you have even tasted a single dish, one of them seems modern and minimal, the other one seems craft and artisanal.

Typography at work. All the typefaces have personality. Serifs imply authority, legitimacy and tradition. Script fonts are intimate and emotional. Geometric sans-serifs are readable as clean and modern. The correct decision puts the brand visual voice in line with what your audience already identifies with those traits.

Using an inappropriate font sends an incorrect message even when the copy is good.

Brand Recognition Lives in Consistent Type Choices

Consider the most well known brands in the world. The coca cola script, masthead blackletter of the New York Times and rounded sans serif of Google. You might even be able to cover the logos and identify the brands by the type only. Such recognition does not occur due to chance. It is the result of a high degree of self-control in using a specific typographic system.

Regularity in typography cultivates familiarity, familiarity cultivates trust. Whenever your audience is exposed to the same kind of treatment in your site, social posts, packaging, and advertisement, their brain identifies it as an identity. It is an indication that the brand is structured, planned and business-like.

The opposite is the case with inconsistency. The fact that what touchpoints you use are randomly mixed fonts is chopping your identity and silently undermining credibility without anyone necessarily being able to explain why.

Typography Directly Affects How Much People Read

Great copy is unread every day since reading is work with the typography surrounding it. The ease of consuming your material depends on line length, line height, font size and weight.

Short paragraphs help. There should be appropriate contrast between text and background. Nonetheless, the kind of typeface makes a huge difference. Poor spacing of fonts of the improper size is a strain to the eye. Lack of hierarchy in bold text forces readers to skim the significant sections.

Thousands of dollars are spent on copywriting by marketers. The difference between who reads it and who does not is typography. Select a typeface that is highly legible at small sizes particularly in mobile where most individuals are the first to read the material.

Type Hierarchy Guides the Reader’s Eye

Any marketing piece must communicate something that it must land on, a headline, a main benefit, a call to action. Typography hierarchy refers to the way you dictate to the reader what of those elements they perceive first, second and third.

A good hierarchy applies contrast of size, weight and even style in order to establish an obvious visual direction. The title catches the eye. The subheading provides context. The body text is detailed. Call to action is distinct and action welcome.

When there is a loss of hierarchy when all things are equal, or equal in weight. There is nothing that is noticeable. The eye of the reader is lost, interest is lost and your message is lost.

Emotional Response Is Driven by Type, Not Just Colour

Marketers are like chatting machines on colour psychology. Urgent (red), trust (blue), growth (green). But typography elicits emotional appeal equally effectively and much less well known brands are doing so deliberately.

The heavy, angular type is assertive. Slim, lightweight fonts are elegant and minimal. Rough letterforms are welcoming and friendly. Compact fonts are vibrant and effective.

The emotional reaction is instant and unconscious when your type and your brand personality are in line. When they collide, something is wrong although the reader may not know why.

Question to ask yourself: what would your brand say as a person? Formal or casual? Confident or warm? Playful or serious? Your type choices should be as much influenced by the answer as your copy tone.

Typography Builds Trust in Digital Marketing

Trust is all in email marketing, landing pages and online advertisements. Individuals make judgments about a brand in a matter of seconds as to whether it is legitimate or not. One of the quickest trust indicators is typography.

Good, professional fonts are an indication that a brand is detail-oriented. Poor spacing, crammed text or font mismatch sends the opposite message. Users can not explain it but their gut will know whether the Web site is trustworthy or not even before they read a single word.

To digital marketers, this is to say that your choice of font has a direct impact on the conversion rates. A landing page that is well structured in terms of hierarchy, legible body text and a confident typeface system converts better than one that flouted these tenets even with the same copy.

How to Build a Typography System for Your Brand

To do typography right, you do not necessarily need to have such a huge budget or even a complete design team. Clarity, purposefulness is effective with large or small businesses.

Begin with two fonts. Select a display or heading typeface that has the personality of your brand, and combine it with a very legible and neutral typeface as body text. Use this duo on all touchpoints like website, social, email, print.

Define your scale. Establish standard headline, subheadings, body, and captions sizes. Consistently use the same sizes as opposed to drawing each design by hand.

Document your choices. One page typography instructions that include your fonts, sizes and rules of usage provide all the designers, content creators and marketers on your staff with a common basis to work on.

Review after 12 -18 months. Brand typography must be developed gradually and deliberately not fluctuate with each fashion. Looking up to a brand, minor improvements over the years ensure that a brand does not feel outdated.

Conclusion

One of the least thought-about forces of branding and marketing is typography. It influences perception prior to processing words, directs readers through the content and instills trust in a few seconds, creates the emotional tone that cannot be fully conveyed by the use of colour and imagery.

The brands who do typography right, are not only better looking. They are more articulate, translate better and gain greater recognition as time goes by. It is a competitive advantage that should be considered.

To learn more about branding, design and what goes into making marketing work, Starbucks Menus is a wide topic of creative and business ideas to investigate as you develop your brand strategy.