Choosing the Best Font for Your Logo Design
When it comes to choosing the best font for their logo design, most entrepreneurs take an attitude of “I’ll know it when I see it.” Instead of looking for specific concepts, colors, or font styles, they follow their gut instincts.
That’s actually not a terrible idea. After all, as we previously discussed in another post, branding is an emotional experience and you should choose designs that stir some sort of reaction.
However, you don’t want your choice of branding materials to be completely based on instinct. After all, the visuals and identity elements – including the font – you choose today might be with you for decades to come. And they’ll help to inform the impressions customers have of your business every day during that time, influencing them in their buying decisions again and again.
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why font choice matters for logo design
One of the areas where business owners need to pay special attention has to do with fonts and type. Given that these might not be within your area of expertise, in today’s article we want to point out a few tips for choosing the perfect font for your logo and brand identity. Let’s start with a quick piece of fine print…
Know Your Terminology
You have probably heard of fonts, and you might have a favorite that you use for emails and word processing documents. It’s possible, though, that you need a typeface instead of a font for your branding.
A typeface is simply a family of fonts, each one having a specific weight, style, with, slant, or other decorative element. A typeface family might have an option for regular, another heavy or bolded choice, one with italics, an underlined version, etc. They are like brothers, sisters, and cousins who all share similar traits.
Will this necessarily change the way you think about fonts for your new logo? Maybe not. But, if you’re speaking with a professional designer or team who is putting something new together on your behalf, it’s good for you to be able to speak their language.
Understand the Purpose Behind Your Font Choice
There are a lot of different classifications for fonts within the graphic design industry. We think of them as being serif and sans serif, and separate them into categories by script, mono spacing, blackletter, and other categories.
In most cases these specifics aren’t going to mean much to you, but what is important is the sense of personality they display. The same text or symbol can have its meaning altered a great deal by a new font choice. It’s like speaking with a completely different inflection or accent.
Branding is all about personality. It’s a function of what you want to be and what you want your customers to feel. It’s important to have a clear vision of what that looks like and to select fonts that convey those impressions to your customers when they see your logo and communications.
Look for Versatility and Ease of Use
Although the “feel” of a certain font will probably be your top consideration, you do need to be a bit practical. In particular, we always try to steer clients towards fonts that are versatile and easy to use.
What does that mean? In terms of versatility, know that the fonts you choose for your visual identity might show up on billboards, your website, and in notices to customers. They should look good on a screen and in print, and in any size. Additionally, they should be neutral enough to convey a range of contacts or communications. You want something that could work in a memo, for example, and a million-dollar ad campaign.
Ease-of-use is another nuts and bolts consideration. You want to select from a font family that is widely used and available. Otherwise, it may not show up particularly well online or print accurately all the time.
Get the Right Paperwork
Depending on your choice of fonts, you may need to buy or license the selection for commercial use. That’s particularly true if you choose something obscure that isn’t included or licensed with many design packages.
A reputable logo design firm will ensure that you don’t end up in any legal hot water with your choice of fonts, but some less-than-trustworthy agencies might leave you out to dry. If you have any doubt about your permissions to use a certain font, ask the important questions before you release the design into the wild.
It’s not hard to find fonts you can use legally, but this is a step you don’t want to ignore.
Is it Time to Bring Your Brand to Life?
Need a new logo and to have stronger branding for your growing business? Let the experts at Logo Design NYC help. With our convenient and affordable platform you can tell us all about your business in a quick questionnaire and get access to stunning and unique designs within days. It’s never been easier to get the visual identity you need for your company, so why wait when you can get started today!
If you want to check out the competition first – and see what else is out there – or our pricing doesn’t work for you right now – check out these NYC logo designers.