The Psychology of
Fonts
How to Choose the Best Font for Your Brand
Find Fonts With Real-World Similarities
Words that describe your brand should also describe your font.
All concepts are interconnected in your brain.
Toothpaste is connected to floss, mouthwash, teeth, and everything related to toothpaste.
Suppose that you see the logo for Avon:
Your brain will activate the visual traits of this font — tall, thin — triggering spreading activation: Activation starts at these visual traits of tall and thin, spreading outward to every related idea (Collins & Loftus, 1975).
Like what? Well, most beauty standards favor tallness and thinness. So beauty is activated from these traits.
You can find a meaningful font by pinpointing fonts that can be described with similar adjectives as your brand.
- Collins, A. M., & Loftus, E. F. (1975). A spreading-activation theory of semantic processing. Psychological review, 82(6), 407.
Choose the Font Classification
Serif fonts look traditional and scientific, sans-serif fonts look modern, and handwritten fonts look personal.
Which type of font should you choose?
- Serif Fonts Look Traditional. Serif letters were chiseled into stone in ancient Rome, and these historical connections tie them to traditional craftsmanship.
- Serif Fonts Look Scientific. You often see them in legal documents, academic papers, and other documents that require trust (Kaspar et al., 2015).
- Sans-Serif Fonts Look Modern. They became more popular in the digital age.
- Handwritten Fonts Are Personal. They can increase donations (Chu et al., 2023).
Tips
- Use Serif Fonts in Print. They're more readable (De Lange et al., 1993).
Examples
- Chu, X. Y., Tok, D., Zhou, X., & Chen, X. (2023). How companies use typeface design to engage consumers in charitable activities. Psychology & Marketing, 40(1), 107-123.
- De Lange, R. W., Esterhuizen, H. L., & Beatty, D. (1993). Performance differences between Times and Helvetica in a reading task. Electronic-Publishing-Chichester, 6, 241-241.
- Kaspar, K., Wehlitz, T., von Knobelsdorff, S., Wulf, T., & von Saldern, M. A. O. (2015). A matter of font type: The effect of serifs on the evaluation of scientific abstracts. International Journal of Psychology, 50(5), 372-378.
Choose the Font Roundness
Round fonts are emotional; rigid fonts are rational.
Should your font have smooth and curved lines? Or sharp angular lines?
It depends. Rigid fonts are somewhat formulaic, resembling a sense of automation. And automation might be help or hurt your brand.
Just pick the side that feels right.
Round Fonts Seem:
- Soft
- Comforting
- Feminine
- Beautiful
- Sweet
- Friendly
- Approachable
Rigid Fonts Seem:
- Mechanistic
- Formal
- Official
- Masculine
- Powerful
You can follow these guidelines beyond fonts too. Adjust the corners of your photos or backgrounds to inject this meaning into other marketing assets.
- Bar, M., & Neta, M. (2006). Humans prefer curved visual objects. Psychological science, 17(8), 645-648.
- Brumberger, E. R. (2003). The rhetoric of typography: The persona of typeface and text. Technical communication, 50(2), 206-223.\
- Lieven, T., Grohmann, B., Herrmann, A., Landwehr, J. R., & Van Tilburg, M. (2015). The effect of brand design on brand gender perceptions and brand preference. European Journal of Marketing.
- Velasco, C., Woods, A. T., Hyndman, S., & Spence, C. (2015). The taste of typeface. i-Perception, 6(4), 2041669515593040.
Choose the Font Complexity
Simple fonts are familiar; complex fonts are distinct.
Should your font be simple or complex?
- Simple Fonts are Familiar. Easy-to-read fonts produce a sense of ease and fluency, and we blame these positive emotions on the product (See Li & Suen, 2010).
- Complex Fonts are Distinct. Gourmet products are preferred with difficult-to-read fonts because this disfluency is attributed to distinctiveness: "in the context of special occasion high-end products, higher fluency serves as a negative cue…[difficult] processing of such products will make them feel more special (Pocheptsova et al., 2010, pg. 9)
- Li, Y., & Suen, C. Y. (2010). Typeface personality traits and their design characteristics. In proceedings of the 9th IAPR International Workshop on Document Analysis Systems (pp. 231-238).
- Pocheptsova, A., Labroo, A. A., & Dhar, R. (2010). Making products feel special: When metacognitive difficulty enhances evaluation. Journal of Marketing Research, 47(6), 1059-1069.
Choose the Font Width
Condensed fonts look tight and precise; wide fonts look stable and heavy
Should your font be condensed or wide?
I'll typically choose whichever style fits better in my canvas: A condensed font in a narrow canvas or a wide font in a short canvas.
But these fonts also convey meaning:
- Wide Fonts Are Stable. Wide fonts look durable and immovable because they feel stable (Choi & Kang, 2013).
- Condensed Fonts Convey Slimness. Ads for a “slim” phone converted better with a slim font (Choi & Kang, 2013).
- Choi, S. M., & Kang, M. (2013). The effect of typeface on advertising and brand evaluations: The role of semantic congruence. J. Advertising and Promotion Research, 2(2), 25-52.
Choose the Line Weight
Light fonts are beautiful, medium fonts are readable, and bold fonts are powerful.
Should your font be light or bold?
- Light Fonts Are Beautiful. Visual thinness activates your concept of beauty: "Typefaces that are lighter in weight (in width and stroke thickness) are seen as delicate, gentle, and feminine, while heavier typefaces are strong, aggressive, and masculine" (Brumberger, 2003, p. 208). Tall and thin fonts also convey lightness, quickness, and luxurious (Van Rompay et al., 2012; Choi & Kang, 2013).
- Regular Fonts Are Readable. Medium weights are most readable (Luckiesh & Moss, 1940).
- Bold Fonts Are Powerful and Masculine. Bold fonts seem assertive, solid, substantial, and masculine— yet also domineering and overbearing (Van Leeuwen, 2006; Lieven et al., 2015).
Examples
- Light Beauty: Dove, Avon, Mary Kay
- Bold Power: Craftsman, Patagonia, DeWalt
- Brumberger, E. R. (2003). The rhetoric of typography: The persona of typeface and text. Technical communication, 50(2), 206-223.
- Choi, S. M., & Kang, M. (2013). The effect of typeface on advertising and brand evaluations: The role of semantic congruence. J. Advertising and Promotion Research, 2(2), 25-52.
- Lieven, T., Grohmann, B., Herrmann, A., Landwehr, J. R., & Van Tilburg, M. (2015). The effect of brand design on brand gender perceptions and brand preference. European Journal of Marketing.
- Luckiesh, M. A. T. T. H. E. W., & Moss, F. K. (1940). Boldness as a factor in type-design and typography. Journal of Applied Psychology, 24(2), 170.
- Van Rompay, T. J., De Vries, P. W., Bontekoe, F., & Tanja-Dijkstra, K. (2012). Embodied product perception. Psychology & Marketing, 29(12), 919-928.
- Van Leeuwen, T. (2006). Towards a semiotics of typography. Information design journal, 14(2), 139-155.
Choose the Letter Casing
Lowercase fonts look friendly; uppercase fonts look powerful and luxurious
Should your font be lowercase or uppercase?
- Lowercase is Friendly. Use lowercase for caregiver brands to convey altruism and compassion (Oosterhout, 2013).
- Uppercase is Strong and Powerful. Use them for “hero” brands to convey energy, courageousness, and focus: "BWM, Diesel, Duracell, Nike and Sony are also using capitals in their word marks, to express their power and strength" (Oosterhout, 2013, p. 39). Same with premium and luxury brands (Yu et al., 2022).
Though mixed case is most readable (Garvey et al., 1997).
Examples
- Friendly Lowercase: Slack, Duolingo, Asana
- Powerful Uppercase: Rolex, Prada, Tiffany & Co.
- Garvey, P. M., Pietrucha, M. T., & Meeker, D. (1997). Effects of font and capitalization on legibility of guide signs. Transportation Research Record, 1605(1), 73-79.
- Oosterhout, L. (2013). Word marks: a helpful tool to express your identity: an empirical study regarding fonts of word marks as a tool for transmitting an archetypal identity (Master’s thesis, University of Twente).
- Yu, Y., Zhou, X., Wang, L., & Wang, Q. (2022). Uppercase premium effect: The role of brand letter case in brand premiumness. Journal of Retailing, 98(2), 335-355.
Choose the Letter Spacing
Tight fonts are bursting; spacious fonts are relaxed.
Should you increase or decrease letter spacing?
Well, how would you describe tight letter spacing? Maybe crowded?
This description — crowdedness — might help or hurt your brand. A crowded store can feel popular, yet cheaper in value.
Research confirms that products feel cheaper in crowed stores and designs (Sevilla & Townsend, 2016; Huang et al., 2019). Interestingly, crowded designs are preferred by lonely people, perhaps because these designs imply the presence of people (Su et al., 2019).
Increase Letter Spacing For:
- Relaxation
- Premiumness
Tips
- Small text requires more letter spacing.
- Choi, S. M., & Kang, M. (2013). The effect of typeface on advertising and brand evaluations: The role of semantic congruence. J. Advertising and Promotion Research, 2(2), 25-52.
- Huang, Y., Lim, K. H., Lin, Z., & Han, S. (2019). Large online product catalog space indicates high store price: Understanding customers’ overgeneralization and illogical inference. Information Systems Research, 30(3), 963-979.
- Sevilla, J., & Townsend, C. (2016). The space-to-product ratio effect: How interstitial space influences product aesthetic appeal, store perceptions, and product preference. Journal of Marketing Research, 53(5), 665-681.
- Su, L., Wan, E. W., & Jiang, Y. (2019). Filling an empty self: The impact of social exclusion on consumer preference for visual density. Journal of Consumer Research, 46(4), 808-824.
Choose the Font Slant
Regular fonts look stable, italicized fonts look fast and urgent
Should you italicize your font?
Forward slants are associated with fast movements: "One graphic convention involves depicting items leaning forward into their movement, with greater leaning conveying greater speed" (Walker, 2015, p. 111)
Italics can trigger this connotation of quickness. For example, you're quicker to read the word cheetah in italics (Walker, 2015; Lewis & Walker, 1989).
Italics can also boost sales and click-through rates because they imply urgency (Mead et al., 2020). And I've replicated this effect in my own research — italicized prices seemed more likely to change because they seemed alive and animate.
Therefore, use italics to convey urgency or speed. Like the Hertz logo:
- Lewis, C., & Walker, P. (1989). Typographic influences on reading. British Journal of Psychology, 80(2), 241-257.
- Mead, J. A., Richerson, R., & Li, W. (2020). Dynamic right-slanted fonts increase the effectiveness of promotional retail advertising. Journal of Retailing, 96(2), 282-296.
- Walker, P. (2015). Depicting visual motion in still images: forward leaning and a left to right bias for lateral movement. Perception, 44(2), 111-128.