Choosing Fonts: Your Guide to UX Design + Styling Communications
“How do I get my brand’s aesthetic to match its voice?”
“I don’t want everything for my brand to look the same… how do I switch it up?”
“I want to rebrand, but I’m not sure where to start...”
The answer for all of these questions?
Choosing Fonts!
Well, more precisely - properly paired fonts.
Easy enough right? Most brands use 2-3 fonts in their kits, but with over 130,000 fonts to choose from (1052 of them available as Google fonts), it can be daunting to say the least.
I won’t lie - there are so many amazing blogs that break down, from a mathematical perspective, what the perfect font pairings are based on your brand vision.
Coming from someone who barely passed the easiest math class my university offered, I will be taking a different approach, but I promise it will be just as much fun!
Here are a few of my favorite tips to make finding your brand’s voice easy and enjoyable!
Step One:
Gather Inspiration!
I always try to gather at least 3 examples of brands or campaigns that I love when I begin working on a project of my own. I’ll create a folder with screenshots of different webpages, merchandise designs, and social media graphics that capture the vibe that I’m looking to create for myself.
A few rules I like to keep in mind during this phase is:
Serifs (think Times New Roman) and Sans Serifs (think Helvetica) work well when mixed together. At the moment, a very popular trend is subbing in a script font in place of the serif or sans serif in your kit. You will find this rule in use if you ever visit the font pairing generator, FontJoy.
Consider the usage. In most cases, a font that is all caps won’t work well for paragraph text, so be sure to include a variant that is legible with lowercase characters.
“Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.”
Once you choose the pairing, you’ll want to test them. In web design, we refer to fonts like this:
H1: Your largest font used for titles & headlines
H2: used for tag-lines or subheadings
Paragraph: The font most of your copy will be typed in.
I tend to peruse Behance when I’m brainstorming by using keywords specific to the project.
If you’re looking to speed up your workflow and hone in on a specific font you’ve found in a piece of inspo, upload your screenshot to WhatTheFont, and it will detect which fonts were used in those screenshots. If the font is custom, it will even make recommendations for other similar fonts!
Step Two:
Check Google Fonts when designing for web.
If you’re building on Squarespace, Wix, or any other self building platform, you will be able to use the font library available with Google Fonts. I always like to check to see if the fonts that I am planning to use are available, and if they are not, what may be similar enough that I can use for copy on my website.
While you can upload custom fonts in these builders, I’ve always found this to be the easiest way to build online. Identifont is a great tool to compare similar fonts.
If you’d like to go the route of more custom fonts, the next step is where the rabbit hole really begins...
Step Three:
Shop Around!
My top 3 favorite storefronts to seek out new / trending fonts are:
Another fun resource I found along the way for “Pay What You Can” font downloads is the Lost Type Co-Op.
Step Four:
Test On Images & Backgrounds.
Sometimes, I find it difficult to make a final decision until I see a font “in action.” One of the reasons I love the storefronts mentioned above is that they show each font in use. I will typically open a photo that I am using in my project in Photoshop and begin to experiment with different ways I could see the font used.
If you’re not quite ready to jump into using Photoshop, Canva (especially the Pro version) has a massive font library to choose from as well as many templates to start from. If you don’t have any photos to use specifically yet, Unsplash and Pexels are great free resources for beautiful stock imagery.
While I would love to wrap this up and say you’re a font-finding master, I can’t leave you without a few things I’ve learned along the way while advising collaborators on font usage.
Font Checklist
If it’s been used on a Starbucks bag or Chili’s menu - Look for an alternative.
Vevey and Wisdom Script were of my favorite fonts, and sadly around mid 2017, designers at these 2 companies had the same taste. While it doesn’t mean these are bad fonts, most consumers will conflate your brand with these since they already have so much weight in the market. I would recommend moving toward something like OptiEmirePro and Queensland.
Don’t be afraid to step outside of your industry for inspiration.
If you’re the only one using a specific aesthetic in your area of expertise, it will help you stand out that much more.
Try using the same font as an H1 and H2 by utilizing weights (bold, semi-bold) and italics.
If you’re investing in a long term identity (vs. a limited time campaign), look for fonts with a timeless aesthetic.
There’s a reason Times New Roman and Helvetica have been around as long as they have.
Recommended Fonts to Avoid
Here are 5 fonts that have remained popular over the last few years that I avoid:
Recommended Fonts to explore:
Here are 5 of my five favorite fonts that I believe will have staying power for years to come:
Modena (bonus script font included)
I hope you fall in love with the world of type as much as I have, and I look forward to see what fonts you choose to authentically and strategically represent your brand!
About the Author
Jonathan’s passion for creating art is matched only by his passion to enable others to share their stories. After working for four years professionally as an actor in New York City, he has found an unmatched fulfillment in helping empower the artistic community to leverage digital media platforms to share their stories just as he been able to share his.
Jonathan’s debut solo record, Young & Proud premiered at #1 on the Alternative Press "Discover Playlist" on Spotify. Between the hours of working with Tony and writing new music, Jonathan can be found training Muay Thai (Thai boxing), scouring Nashville for the next greatest vegan pop-up, or obsessively chasing the perfect cup of home-roasted coffee.
