Thursday 7 January 2016

The font of all knowledge

Should you opt for Serif or Sans serif?

The force of habit persists.  Businesses are very conventional and predictable when it comes to fonts.  People want a font that is clear and doesn’t distract from what is being said.  If I suddenly change to a different font you are immediately struck by how weird that looks.  This font ‘Algerian’ would not be regarded as an appropriate font for business because it is flowery and the lines are too thick.
There mainly 2 types of font – serif and sans serif.  Serifs are small added features which are found in Times New Roman and Bookman Old Style and examples of Sans serif fonts would be Arial and Verdana.

In broad terms Serif fonts are regarded as traditional and Sans serif fonts as modern. Books, magazines and newspapers are often printed in Serif fonts as the little tails on the letters draw the reader more effectively.  However for online text Sans serif fonts tend to work better as it gives a cleaner look and is more readable in an online format.  There are no hard and fast rules however and companies must decide which font works best for them.

Fonts form an important part of a company’s Corporate ID, so how many fonts should you have and should you stick to just one?  What appears to work best is to have two company fonts that you use differently – one for print (Serif font) and one for online (Sans serif font).  If you’re producing an article or PR release then it is acceptable practice to do the headline in Sans serif with the body of the text in Serif or vice versa.

So if as a business you have chosen your Serif and Sans serif fonts, then there is nothing to stop you doing something wild with a font on a flyer to attract attention!

Changing your company font will give you a whole new look so if you would like to see what a change of font can do for your business, then please get in touch.


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