“If the brand can define itself using descriptions to capture the tone, personality, and principles of the brand-to paint a thorough picture of who they are and who they want to be-we can translate that into typographic forms.” “The ideal scenario is for a brand to trust that we can help turn their identity into a well-balanced font,” says Verlomme. When it comes to settling on the look of your brand font, the conversation begins and ends with one overarching question: Who are you? Determining your identity is integral to choosing the right typeface design for your brand. They’re also non-specific enough in their design to be used by a wide range of companies, and flexible enough to work in a wide range of digital and print environments. These fonts have a classic, modern look that evokes a sort of nostalgic sophistication. As an example, both he and Verlomme note that geometric sans serifs are immensely popular today. “There’s a fine line between ‘good’ familiar and ‘bad’ familiar,” says Matteson. But in that situation, we can guide brands to a solution that works, either by selecting an approximate match of the logo or wordmark or finding a typeface that compliments it.” “Brands worry that they’ll have to change it if they change the font. “One of the most common questions I get is, ‘what about the logo or the wordmark?’” Matteson says. In fact, selecting or creating a distinctive, durable design is one of the most important and challenging choices brands make.īut whereas assessing the functionality of a font is fairly straightforward, design choices can be much more complicated. None of this is to suggest that a generic font makes for a great branding choice just because the family includes thousands of glyphs. So it’s better to address that right from the start.” But looks do matter We’re all pretty Latin-oriented by default. “But when brands come to us they don’t always think about that. “With more brands going global, having multiple languages covered is increasingly important,” says Verlomme. In practical terms, this means looking for font families that encompass a wide range of weights and styles support the languages your customers use and equip your design teams with features they need to create engaging, distinctive visual assets. “This allows you to express your brand impactfully across different languages and environments.” “A ‘good’ brand font will have a large, well-crafted family that provides a rich palette for your brand,” says Matteson. “The tricky thing is to find the right balance between a strong identity that maintains brand recognition while keeping the branding functional, legible and long-lasting.”įrom that perspective, we can establish broad parameters for brands to consider when choosing a brand font. “When it comes to large corporations, the brand will have a lot of communications, channels, and touchpoints,” says Monotype Type Designer Malou Verlomme. So, the right brand font will provide the versatility you need to deliver consistent brand expression across every one of those touchpoints. For some companies these touchpoints can number in the thousands. Remember, this is the font you will use everywhere, on virtually every piece of printed material and digital real estate your brand touches. Put differently, the quality of a brand font is not defined by how it looks, but rather by how it is used. “All typefaces have a voice, and using that voice consistently is key to bringing more engagement to your brand.” “The phrase ‘brand font’ is sort of a non-term,” says Monotype Type Director Steve Matteson. Even at Monotype, we praise new releases with broad labels such as a “go-to typeface for branding” or “carefully tailored to the demands of branding design.” Of course, the true meaning of a “brand font” is far more complex and personal to each brand making a typeface decision. For many brand stewards, this process can be quite a challenge.Īcross industries, people use the term with equal parts conviction and nonchalance. In each case, companies need to choose brand fonts that convey a cohesive identity and resonate with loyal customer audiences. In order to remain relevant, brands must find ways to reinvent themselves every so often, through new product development, a new visual aesthetic, and new advertising campaigns.
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