Website design and development combines numerous elements to deliver an end product that showcases your brand and evoke certain emotions from your consumers. You can use certain colours to inspire emotions, such as red for urgency and blue for calm, and you can choose a specific layout that showcases your brand mission and vision. However, there is one element that is often overlooked, and this is the font that you use in your website design. Font psychology is an important consideration for any design project, as it can turn simple words into brand stories.Â
When you are working on a website design you should consider the font you use very carefully. The fonts you use in your website design projects can alter the way in which the audience views the brand and website, as well as what emotions it evokes in them.Â
Below we delve a little deeper into what font psychology is and how you can use it for your brand.Â
First Off, What Is Font Psychology?
Font psychology can be understood as the study of how different fonts impact our thoughts, feelings and behaviours. People often have very different reactions to different font types, especially if these fonts are used for popular brands. For example, if you have been working in the website design industry, you might be wary of using Comic Sans in your designs because of the intense negative connotations of this font.Â
Fonts help to turn simple words into stories. They are designed to say something specific about a word, brand, or product. Think about it in terms of movie posters. An action-filled film will most likely use a bold font to portray the action that will take place in the film, whereas a drama or romance will use a softer, thinner front to showcase the tearjerking story of the film. When a designer chooses a font, they are choosing how to tell a brand’s story.Â
The same can be said of the fonts used in logo design. While your conscious brain will read the words and take in the image used for the logo, the font is triggering a reaction from your subconscious by activating your associative network. When you see your favourite fast food logo (sometimes known as the Golden Arches) your subconscious triggers an emotional response, which is why you most likely crave their famous fast-foods as soon as your drive by.Â
This is the power of using the right font for your website design.Â
Why Is Font Psychology Important (And How Can I Use It)?
Now that you understand what font psychology is, it is important to understand why it is so important to any website design project. One of the reasons why it is so important is because it allows you to have more control over how your brand is perceived by your consumers and your competition. You might have a fantastic logo that hits all of the right notes, but if this is combined with the wrong font, it can fall completely flat.Â
When you create a design, whether it is a refreshed website design or a poster for an event, you want to elicit a certain response from your audience. Choosing the right font is vital, but it is equally as important to avoid using the wrong fonts. Think carefully about the message you want to send to your consumer before you decide on a font.Â
Below we give some top tips on how to use font psychology in your design projects.Â
Start With Your Brand
One of the best ways to choose the best font for your needs is to think carefully about how you would describe your brand, especially what emotions you want to inspire in your consumers. For example, an organic compost company would need to choose a Serif font to inspire the same calm and contentment that a lush, green garden would. Think of the specific adjectives you would like to associate with your brand and move from there.Â
Think About Target Audience
Once you have decided on what adjectives and emotions you would like to associate with your brand, you can move on to thinking about who your target audience is, what solutions they are seeking from your brand, as well as how they already see you and how you want to be seen. This will help you to choose the font that resonates the most with your audience and demographics.Â
Pop Psychology
Font psychology is a vital part of website design as it can help to improve how your brand is seen by your audience and your consumers. Thinking about what adjectives you want to be associated with your brand and how your audience already sees your brand will help you to choose a font that achieves your goals.Â
Choosing the wrong font can be disastrous, which is why it is best to consult with a professional website design company. Speak to NetMechanic today to find out how we can help you pick the perfect font.
