Can a little thing like a font change the meaning of words or the whole design? Of course! A font can add a new layer to the text and meaning of your message.
This can help you connect with the user, form a brand, and set the tone for the entire project. The wrong font can make the design flat, disjointed, or even give users the wrong idea about your brand. Now, with that knowledge, let’s look at a few examples of beautiful typography from Design Shack.
The mood and message you want to convey must match each other
It may sound strange, but it is true: each font has its own mood. And just like your mood, it can change from the environment.
This mood helps to set the features of the project. This is due to what people will think about the content. This creates a connection between what you do and who you are and how people react to you. (Too much pressure for a signature, right?)
Making the right connection starts with understanding what you want your project to carry, as well as a little knowledge of the different styles and history of the font.
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Did you mean that?
Or did you try to say that?
The only difference here is in the fonts. See how different these messages are?
Mood fonts for beginners
There is no specific science in matching fonts by mood. In fact, it’s mostly intuitive, and you just have to look at the font and the word together to understand what they’re carrying (If you don’t believe it, check out the previous example).
Here are some examples to get you started with different typography styles:
- Serif font: eternity, formality
- Modern serif: gloss, haute couture
- Bar (Slab serif): importance, attention
- Sans serif: neutral, simple
- Condensed: Authoritative, Intensive
- Black or bold: importance, stop
- Handwritten (Script): elegant, characteristic
- Geometric: Retro, Children’s
- Monospaced: code-based, sharp
- Bubble or rounded: friendly, lively
- Vintage: trendy, cool
- Grunge: rough, mystical
Avoid cliches
And here’s the hard part: Don’t fall into the trap of using clichéd fonts because of their common association or because you’re not sure what to do. You can find lists all over the internet that tell you which font to use for any type of project. You don’t get that here.
You might want to mix a serif font with lighter content, or make the handwritten font more masculine. As with any combination of fonts, choose one for the title and big words, and something simpler for the rest of the text. This combination can be more traditional if you choose serif fonts, or more modern ones with vintage and news antiques.
Consider your surroundings
An important part of the perception of the font is what elements surround it. This can be anything from images to other fonts. Different combinations can make the user perceive what he sees differently.
Think of some simple sans-serif font. Basically, these fonts are quite neutral, and will adapt to the meaning of their surroundings. Look at the two images above, for example. Are they perceived differently? In both images, the font is the same, but the result is very different. In the picture with the airport you can feel the bustle and excitement, but the picture with the beach blows calm.
Who is your audience?
There’s another element you can’t control when it comes to typography and mood. This is how your audience perceives your content and font variations.
Let’s take Comic Sans, which has been joked about more than once. Most designers won’t use it. They will smirk and laugh if one of their colleagues creates a project with him. On the other hand, Comic Sans is a popular font. You’ll find it everywhere from church bulletins to amateur newspapers and simple signs.
Where you think there’s a real design problem, there will always be people who won’t have one. The same thing can happen with any font.
Users will approach the design from different perspectives. Let’s take your audience into account in advance and try to predict how they will perceive the design. What will they think of your choice of typography? Can you make decisions that align with what they want or expect from the project?
5 fonts that no self-respecting designer will use
Choosing or not choosing a font shouldn’t be a sad decision. We’ve all had an eye cut in our lives when a great design was ruined by stupid or just overuse of the wrong font. Just fun for the sake of presenting you five fonts that we are sure you will never use:
- Papyrus: It’s hard to fit into any design and it has serious readability issues.
- Jokerman: Any font that has polka dots, thorns, or swirls is downright funny.
- Times New Roman: Default font from text editors and exam tests for grade 10. This is a normal font, but may have a slight tinge of laziness.
- Impact: If you want to shout to your users: “This is very important, you need to read this now!” then choose it. (It was a very good font… until the memes ruined it).
- Comic Sans: Too much has been said about him.
Conclusion
Your mood, the mood of your audience, and the mood of the typography combine to create an overall perception of the project.
When planning a project and working on its creation, do not forget to take into account the mood of your audience. And if you stumble along the way – don’t worry, it happens. Learn from these mistakes and rethink the process with the next project.
