The Power of Fonts

For many centuries typefaces were chosen exclusively by typesetters, designers or printers. Then, after the time of digital revolution had arrived, each of us started browsing the inventory of fonts on a daily basis. We are more and more aware of what a typeface is. But do we recognise how important a role typography plays in our lives?

We are all consumers of fonts. Typography helps us navigate city streets, convey information and make decisions (purchasing decisions included). We interact with different types of typefaces every day, most of the time unconsciously. Typeface affects what and how we read.

Many well-known brands, like Google, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, IKEA, Sony, Fila, Canon, Logitech, can be recognised by their typography alone; one doesn’t need to see the entire logo to identify them. This is because our brain recognises and matches patterns, comparing what we see to what we have already catalogued in our heads. Typography, while seemingly a purely functional tool, has the hidden potential to convey emotions. It can be calm and subdued, but also full of emotion and tumultuous. We often subconsciously choose brands that in some way reflect our personality and our habits.

In 2010, the well-known American clothing company GAP decided to refresh its visual identity and change the logo it had been using for more than 20 years. The logo with the white letters “GAP” on a blue background, written in Spire font, was replaced by a logo written in black Helvetica Bold, with a small blue square placed partly behind the letter “p.” Just a week after the new branding was announced, there were loud protests from customers and Internet users. They claimed that the new logo looked “tacky and cheap.” The company reverted to the original identity to protect itself from losing customers who were attached to the brand, and thus from considerable financial losses.

Now imagine a world where only one typeface is used everywhere. While initially this would seem like an aesthetically appealing and usable idea, in reality it would be very impractical. If all products, banners and storefronts looked alike, we would have to spend more time analysing every word, scanning the shelf of products and reading the names one by one to find the one we were looking for, as well as to determine whether the product was cheap, luxurious, healthy, designed for women or men. This also applies to choosing a restaurant or a bar. With the right typeface in the logo, we are able to determine the mood of a given space – whether it is a place for a romantic dinner or rather a loud pub for sports fans.

The right typography improves of our safety by allowing us to read and react quickly on the streets and roads. Official road signs are part of an established visual system, in which bright and neutral sans-serif typography is used, as it has been shown to be most legible from greater distance. Jock Kinneir and Margaret Carvert, who designed the road sign system in the UK in the 1960s, found that words written only in capital letters are less legible than those written in lowercase, because all caps are more difficult to distinguish from a distance.

When traveling, we can easily notice the differences in typographic styles separating cities or countries. The typefaces we see on road signs and banners say a lot about a place or area. They reflect social and economic development and describe the unique history of places. Take Paris for example, where the influence of Art Nouveau can still be seen in public spaces, e.g. on subway entrance signs. London, in turn, is distinguished by the Johnston typeface, which has become a symbol of the city and is still used today throughout the city’s transportation system. The sans-serif, geometric Twentieth Century typeface, used on many signs and signs in New York City in the 20th century, inspired Tobias Frere-Jones to create the Gotham font, which became popular after it was used for Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign.

Each typeface has its own character, personality, influences usability, readability, emotions and interpretation of the words being read. It carries a story and associations, which is why it is so important to make a thoughtful decision and match typography to what we want to convey. Let’s remember that well-chosen typography can give new meaning to words.

In the upcoming articles, we will talk about what should guide the selection of fonts from a psychological and practical point of view.