Why Typography is Vital To Marketing
We have been under the guise that marketing and branding is all about the graphics. In actuality, when someone visits your website for example, they don’t care as much about the graphics and beeline to the textual content. Text is the major source of information. When creating marketing content, it is a must to balance the graphics and text. This is where typography comes into play.
Thoughtfully choosing the right font allows you to evoke a particular emotion or convey a specific message. The skillful use of font commands the attention of your audience, communicates target messages, and motivates your audience to act. Typography is not just about readability. It is truly a blending of art and technicality to establish an emotional connection to your brand.
Why Typography is Vital to Marketing
1. It is reader-friendly- using fonts that are clean and easy to read is integral in getting your message across. If fonts are too small or cramped, your message will be ignored. You can get creative, but avoid going too complex in your design, the audience needs to easily and quickly comprehend what you are trying to say.
2. It attracts and holds the audience’s attention- when used effectively, typography conveys specific moods or emotional reactions. It is imperative that your audience understands the message you are trying to send and be drawn in. Choosing the appropriate font sets the tone.
3. It establishes an information hierarchy- utilizing different font sizes and types allows the audience to determine the most important points of your message at a glance.
4. It helps to create harmony- the typography used throughout your work unifies it. Repetition of the same font creates continuity throughout your branding. Keeping your fonts aligned and in proportion provides order and creates synchronicity in your marketing.
5. It creates and builds recognition- The fonts you choose in your marketing are the visuals that your audience will remember. You want your audience to be able to recognize your company’s brand everywhere every time. Typography trademark stamps your company and is the one thing your audience will identify with time and time again.
Eliciting Emotions Through Typography
It’s hard to believe that something as innocuous as a font can determine the interpretation of your words and design, but it can! Your font choice can add a new level of meaning or emphasis to your message. Thoughtful use of typography can help brands connect with users and set the tone of an entire campaign. The wrong font can leave a design feeling disjointed and flat and possibly give the wrong impression about your brand.
Fonts expand beyond written meaning and elicit emotional responses, set-up visual cues, and communicate a product’s value. Therefore, understanding the emotional responses to different fonts is extremely important. The way in which you present your marketing greatly impacts a person’s emotional response. Depending on how you use different fonts, they will produce a wide range of emotional responses from the readers. You can take the same message and by simply putting it in different fonts, get variety of emotional responses.
Altering Reactions with Typography
Errol Morris conducted an experiment titled “Are You an Optimist or a Pessimist?” published in New York Times. During the experiment, 40,000 participants were provided a brief passage, followed by the question “Is it true that we live in an era of unprecedented safety?” Participants were asked how confident they were in their choice. Morris was interested in discovering whether font type made the facts more believable or influenced the answers of the respondents. The passage was given in a variety of font types: Trebuchet, Comic Sans, Helvetica, Georgia, Computer Modern, and Baskerville. Results showed Comic Sans and Helvetica failed to inspire confidence, while statements in Baskerville received the highest approval ratings.
When designing with font, the visual language established not only brings emotions into play, but also factors in physical responses and triggers personal experiences of your audience. By changing the visual language of a message, you in essence have control over the audience’s emotional response. Psychologists Julie Gross and Samuel Juni conducted a study involving New York University students reading a New York Times satirical article. Each participant was randomly assigned a reading printed in either Times New Roman or Arial. Students were asked to rate the article. Those who were given the article written in Times New Roman, reported it as being angrier and funnier, than when read in Arial. Fonts can absolutely have a mood of their own. Use of the wrong font and your message can become distorted. It is imperative in marketing to not lose sight of the tone you are trying to convey to your audience.
As you can see in the example, same word, but they feel entirely different. The “hello” on top depicts a bold, single, large word, its letters are closely set, and in lowercase. The word appears loud and dominant, and the message gives off a confident, yet friendly vibe. The audience visualizes a warm friendly person welcoming you with a smile and open arms.
However, the “hello” on the bottom is a bit more dramatic when compared to the above version. The color, scale, case, and font portray a more hesitant and meek greeting. You visualize an often ignored, lonely person, who is most likely avoiding eye-contact. Comparing these allows you to see the influence of visual language instantly. It is imperative that you become familiar with the influences that reside within the font and style you choose to utilize.
Positive Font Type Associations: rounded lettering, serifs with thin strokes, modern fonts, styles with log tails, novelty fonts, open lettering, fancy scripts
Negative Font Type Associations: letters with harsh lines or strokes, thick strokes, shaky strokes, all caps, old-style types or black letters, tight lettering, using mixed fonts
Positive Space Associations: open spacing, organization of elements, text wrap, margins,
Negative space associations: tight spacing, no size uniformity, broken spaces that make text illegible, overlapping elements
Typography is all about tweaking the text within the design to create powerful content. Not only does it provide an attractive appearance, but it also preserves the visual value of your content. It plays a vital role in setting the overall tone of the message you want to deliver. In order to use typography effectively, you must anticipate how the use of fonts and styling will impact your audience emotionally and influence their purchasing behavior.
References:
McCarthy, M. S., & Mothersbaugh, D. L. (2002). Effects of typographic factors in advertising-based persuasion: A general model and initial empirical tests. Psychology & Marketing, 19, 663–691
Emotional response to typography: the role of typographic variations in emotional response to advertising by Kevin l. Guthrie, University of Florida, 2009
