Am I Not Your Type?

Personalities are experienced

Choosing the right 'type' for your visual brand is all about ensuring whatever you choose has the right vibe. Chances are if you're advertising your services, you're not paying attention to details like the personality of the 'type' and how well it matches your brand's story. I want to take this opportunity to show how type can make or break expression.

USING TYPOGRAPHY IN VISUAL STORYTELLING

My company was hired to visually illustrate “The Cat That Was Afraid of the Bat”. After reading the book, my evaluation of the main character was that he’s very paranoid. And from this conclusion, I began building my illustrations. But when it was time to pick a font that paired well the subtle playfulness and tone of the design, nothing seemed to work until I came across Actionls.

The design of ActionIs had the right vibe to it. It echoed the curves of the cat's tail, and it was also the right kind of playful. But sometimes the fit isn't so easily found.

Before I continue, so you're not confused when I say 'type', I don’t mean Times New Roman, Adobe Garamond, etc but design: Serif or San Serif, Artisanal or Decorative, Thin or Bold. And when I say story, I'm talking about the core values of your brand as it relates to trust-building with your audience. None of this is based on or influenced by a client's personal feelings, tastes, or opinions.

In this project, even though the kids are the customers, the parents are the ones with the money. So, it was very important for the sale of the book to also win over the parents. Not every parent in Trinidad and Tobago, just the right ones. Data retrieved from testing the cover art proved it captured the child-like curiosity of many adults who expressed that "It made them want to read the book despite it being specifically written for children!" A thin font would have crippled creating that vibe.

Eight years later...

I didn't learn this anywhere. It was just common sense!

Remember, the goal here isn't to reinvent the wheel but to determine what's best for what you need to communicate.

If your clients are government officials or celebrities, basically people within a certain income bracket and lifestyle. A font with a more luxurious vibe to it would have been perfect.

I know my peers will want to also address things like justification and padding etc.

Though those things matter, for the purpose of this article, I just want you to focus on the vibe of your font selection for now.

Going back to what you need to communicate. We see this exemplified all the time in movies. And when you choose the right font, it can enhance the experience you're trying to create. Remember “The Cat That Was Afraid of the Bat”? One reader (an adult) wrote me expressing how the cover illustration alone was the impetus for actually reading the book. That experience wasn't a fluke, I purposely created the cover to appeal to the child in the adult purchasing the book: They too need to like scary stories, not just the kid.

Once you know what 'type' your industry favors, identify what makes you unique. Here's the hard part. Once you've done this, you can't settle for Comic Sans and Times New Roman because you're posting a flyer from your phone, and Canva doesn't have Alternate Gothic and Proxima Nova. The psychology of typography is as important as the psychology of color. And, if you want to build familiarity for your brand, it's important to have consistency in your branding. Whatever you choose, make sure it has 3 characteristics: