Font is a tone of the message

Have you ever wondered why a gorgeous typeface on the cover of a famous magazine works in a completely different way in your project? Let's talk about how choosing a typeface affects the perception of content and why it matters. I will try to open the curtain to a world filled with millions of different moods, from which you can choose only several. Several fonts that are perfect for you.

Perception markers

We use intonation to ensure that our words are perceived correctly, when communicating with each other, and sometimes intonation is more important than the words themselves. There are many ways to say the same phrase, and in each case, its meaning will change depending on how we say it. Coarsely or lovingly, gracefully or sternly, or maybe indifferently? Correctly chosen intonation can strengthen the content of the message, inspire, fill with hidden meaning, immerse in the necessary atmosphere. The wrong intonation, on the contrary, can mislead the listener, make him bored or even alienate him. In addition to the intonation of individual phrases, the general tone that accompanies the entire narrative is also important.

Unlike verbal communication, where we perceive intonation and general tone mainly by ear, and when we reading we use sight. Our eyes perceive the shapes of letters, words, paragraphs, after which the brain converts them into text. But physically, the form of a text doesn't exist by itself. It is defined by the typeface or handwriting used to write the text. The typeface is the tool that sets the overall visual tone. It helps to perceive the text and get a certain reading experience. Tone doesn't work with individual phrases pronounced with different intonations, but with the mood that unites all the material. An analogy can be drawn with Arthur Conan Doyle's books about Sherlock Holmes, which are imbued with an atmosphere of mystery and adventure from the introduction to the last page.

The font is like a memorable perfume, which had heard once, you will recognize when you meet it again. Everyone wants to smell like a popular brand perfume. But the delicate fleeting scent of a stranger's perfume on the street, with a high degree of probability, will unfold on your skin in a completely different way. By using a typeface that is known for another brand, you will popularize that brand, not your own. This is why finding your voice and tone is so important, and that's why many brands use custom fonts that speak in a visual language that is unique to them.

Basic associations

Typefaces are categorized by both optical size (headlines and text) and category (antique, grotesque, calligraphic, handwritten, gothic, and others), and the style of each category is associated with certain basic associations and emotions. Sans-serifs are contemporary, serifs are historical and bookish, calligraphic fonts are personal, handwritten fonts are childish and spontaneous, and so on. The use of these psychological markers allows you to more accurately match the typeface to the tone of the message. Each category also includes subcategories related to the different historical periods in which they were created and commonly used. This should be used in the narrative of a specific historical period to create a correspondence that ultimately affects immersion.

Knowing the history of typography is helpful and necessary, but it's also important to stay free of the rules and try to combine different styles. Synthesis is the basis of creativity, and by competently combining elements that seem incompatible at first glance, you can find exactly the tone that is necessary. Therefore, fonts that include features that are not typical of their category often become popular and create new trends.

Trends

The only way to create trends is to not follow trends. From time to time we change the environment, hairstyle, we start to like different food and clothes. From time to time, change is necessary and natural, and if personal change can be characterized as a style, then on a global scale we call it fashion. Style and fashion are often confused and, knowingly or not, people use what is popular now. Often this factor becomes a stereotypical trap when the brand now looks modern but definitely looks like someone else. Finding your own voice is important, and typography is one of the tools in achieving this goal.

Complementary pairs

A typeface is a tool that follows a global goal. Recognition is important, especially if you are speaking on behalf of a brand, but you should always remember that content should come first. A typeface should follow the rules of good design — it should be expressive, but not distracting from the content, because the viewer perceives the global picture, and not the text and type separately.

In headlines, slogans and logos, we often pay attention to what the writing looks like, and when reading a large block of text we focus on the content. The shorter the text, the more attention should be paid to its design and how closely it matches the overall tone. Therefore, headlines are often more expressive, and paragraphs are more strict. The longer the text and the smaller the font size, the simpler and more readable the font should be. Decorativeness doesn't cost anything when it makes the content difficult to read. Text-type fonts are used for this task. In contrast to headlines, they are less decorative but no less expressive.

Typefaces often work in pairs, revealing and complementing each other. There are many guides for combining different fonts, but one of the tenets is that a simple typeface creates a contrast to a more detailed and decorative pair. For a starting point, try typing your headline in a serif typeface and your body text in a sans-serif. Now swap them and analyze how the perception has changed.

Can I use the same typeface for headline and body text? It is possible to use a text typeface in the headline, but not vice versa, and here's why: the smaller the text, the tighter the letter-spacing appears, and vice versa, in a large headline, the space between letters looks wider. Therefore, in text typefaces, a wider letter spacing is initially preset, since they are intended for paragraphs, that is, for the perception of text on a small scale. Whereas in Display typefaces, letter spacing is tighter because they are used in headings, that is, on a large scale. Try using a Display face and type a large paragraph with it in a small size. It became more difficult to read such a text and the reading speed decreased. At the same time, will the title be expressive enough if it is typed in text face?

The surrounding context

In addition to expressing the tone of the message, the typeface and composition as a whole should also fit harmoniously into the surrounding context. Will the message be placed on the facade of a building of a particular architecture or a bus of a particular style and color? Good design takes into account its environment at the design stage and typography is a part of the process. One of the tools for solving this problem is the correctly chosen scale of the text or the entire composition with the environment, and if you are not sure about the perfect match, it is worth following the rule "less is more" — just try a smaller scale. Consider context whenever possible, because a font that fits perfectly into a layout can look unnatural in real-world environments. Test before release. What does the font on the cover of a book look like when you hold a printed sample in your hands? How will the design of the street change with the appearance of a banner with your message? And will the perception of the message itself change?

A typeface is a visual marker that speaks to the nature of the content and sets the reader on a certain wave, and if this marker and the content interact well with each other, immersion occurs. This is the best reading and viewing experience. An experience that is remembered, that makes you fall in love, that conveys a message not only to your eye but also to your heart.

Questions to answer when choosing fonts

— What is the expected length of the text: word, phrase, paragraph, book?
— Should the tone of the message be contemporary and technological, or historical and solid, or cozy and casual, or informal and personal, or something else?
— Is the text content on its own, or is it part of a series of messages on behalf of the brand?
— Who is your reader?
— Is the message intended to provide more information, or is the text a decoration?
— What elements will the text be surrounded by and how does this form an overall composition?
— Does the text interact with the illustration, and what style is it drawn?
— What environment will the finished product be in and where will it be distributed?