Typography is the science and art of arranging the letters in a typed text in a way that is easy to read, legible, and appealing. Arranging typed text includes the selection of typefaces, point size, line-spacing, line lengths, and the distance between consecutive letters. Selecting the typography for a logo consists of accurately selecting all the aspects of typography to get a final product that is up to the mark. Let’s have a quick look at selecting all these different things that collectively make typography.
Selecting the right Font
When you think of a logo, a graphic depicting the company the logo represents comes to your mind, but the text written in the logo carries equal, if not more, importance. It is the medium the logo’s designer uses to convey crucial information like the name and industry.
Different fonts are used to communicate different attributes and have their own impacts. Your target audience will make assumptions about your brand based on the font you use, subconsciously. For this reason, the font you use in your logo design needs to be in line with your business. Here are some of the widely used fonts and what they convey:
- Serif is known for being classic, conservative, refined, and traditional.
- Sans-Serif is considered to be clean, modern, simple, and geometric.
- Slab Serifs is a vintage, rustic, and masculine font.
- Script, a feminine, refined, ornate, and elegant font.
- Handwritten font looks to be custom, bespoke, approachable, and casual.
Font weight and style selection
After having decided on the basic font category you are going to work with, the next step is narrowing the selection down to the style of the selected font. Most of the fonts come in a number of different variations and weights, ranging from hair-thin to super thick. As an example, a thick font might be good for a short name but will look too bulky and congested for longer names. Likewise, a thin font might look great on a large billboard, but the same will completely vanish on a business card in small point size.
The decision of font style and weight for your logo is yours, but you need to be discreet about what you want to convey via your logo, and you need to select the font keeping that in mind. Another thing you should keep in mind is how your logo will behave on different screen resolutions, we talked about Responsive Typography earlier this year and even about Responsive logos with great examples. Just remember, branding should be dynamic right from the initial concept boards.
Combining Fonts in a Logo
First of all, do not combine more than two fonts in a logo. It is a good practice to write the brand name in one font and any supporting text, like your motto, in another. However, you have to make sure that the fonts you select are compatible, meaning, they should have the same proportions and point size so that they look harmonious together.
Final Thoughts
Fonts are the most important part of any logo that needs to be selected very carefully and must be in line with the message the logo is supposed to convey. The available fonts on the market are plentiful, but you need to select the ones compatible with each other, the ones that look good together. The line, character, and word spacing must also be in compliance with the font you have decided to use.
