When Good Design Goes Wrong: The Cost of Choosing the Wrong Font
Designers and copywriters often collaborate to produce content that looks and sounds effortless and is fit for the occasion. Every designer knows that fonts carry personality, with a serif font suggesting formality and a sans serif choice evoking a more contemporary feel. Put the wrong personality in the wrong place, however, and even the best content might not be perceived as it should.
A fun, childlike font might work for a toy store, but use it in a financial report, and your balance sheets won’t be taken seriously. Fonts are so powerful that they carry emotion through their appearance alone, and that’s why it’s so important for the typeface to match the tone of your message.
Why Playful Fonts Can Cause Problems
Let’s face it. Playful fonts are exciting and tempting to use, especially for significant signage and marketing materials that need to stand out. They’re perfect to foster engagement in children’s books, introducing a little whimsy in birthday cards, and attracting customers into candy stores. These fonts provide the informal, approachable look that draws people in. The problem is when they start being used in the wrong places.
Could you imagine using a bold, cutesy font on your resume for a job in traditional finance or typing business material in Comic Sans? Even if your credentials were stellar or the material was well-written, the font would instantly hurt your credibility. There’s a time and place for playful fonts, so if you ever feel like you’re trying too hard to be quirky, you should likely pick a plainer typeface.
How Elaborate Fonts Can Hurt Communication
Elaborate fonts are another type of visual showpiece that could cause issues. Those artistic handwriting fonts and elegant letters that loop around for days are certainly impressive to look at. But when each letter is competing for space or you have to play around with the letter and line spacing for hours, you often lose out on clarity. Although this font category can provide sophistication and won’t raise as many eyebrows as playful fonts when used in the incorrect setting, challenging the reader is almost worse. Overly ornate typefaces can hinder communication. If the reader needs to squint, sound out the letters, or ask a friend what the actual name of the company is, the font has failed you. No font should ever come at the cost of understanding.
Cultural Aesthetics Bring Beauty but Risk Misunderstanding
We’ve touched on the psychological associations with typography, but what’s even more interesting is the fact that fonts can also carry culture and history. Certain calligraphy fonts are meant to allude to tradition or heritage in parts of Asia, while Gaelic-inspired lettering celebrates Ireland’s linguistic history. Cultural fonts are often full of character and have deep meanings to those who comprise part of their story.
Similarly to elaborate fonts, though, you never want to sacrifice style at the cost of readability. Sure, the font might make perfect sense to use for a street sign or souvenir shop, but if even native readers are struggling, imagine what the visitors are thinking. How would it be possible for them to figure out what’s on the menu or take advantage of Ireland’s best value bonus offers at a casino if the lettering is borderline indecipherable?
Case Study: Thailand Shows Font Can Be Confusing Even for Locals
Thailand provides a particularly worthy example of cultural font readability. Thai writing is complex, with a layered and flowy appearance. There aren’t any spaces between words, and characters have looping shapes and calligraphy-esque strokes. There’s a popular local font that reshapes characters so dramatically that even native readers can struggle to read signs and notices; unsurprisingly, it commonly leads to misreads in daily life.
Despite how culturally resonant or attractive a font is, communication should always take priority. After all, the purpose of text is to send a message, so the font should invite the eye in and not force it to work harder than it should.
Choosing Fonts That Communicate Clearly
Picking the right font should first and foremost be about transmitting a clear message. That said, your typeface should support the tone and purpose of your content and make understanding effortless.
To make sure of this, begin by considering the context of your text and your audience. Are you communicating with potential customers or higher-ups at work? Marketing materials for an e-commerce store could benefit from more personality, while work-related content should ideally stick with plain fonts. Always test your choices in the exact medium they’ll appear in by viewing the text on different devices or locations.
Still hesitant as to whether the font is legible or suitable? Ask around, get feedback, and watch as people read it. Fonts can naturally become illegible for many reasons. When creating the typeface, the designer may have exaggerated or compressed too many letters or strokes, or it was intended for a short headline and not long-form text. Be wary of what certain fonts are meant to be used for, too, so you don’t use them outside that context.
What Makes Good Typography?
The word typography can sound overly dramatic and evoke images of swirly, curly fonts, but it simply refers to how text appears and is arranged. Good typography is ultimately effective, appealing, and readable. Tick all three of those boxes and apply it to the right setting, and you’ll be able to guide the reader to understanding faster than it probably took you to scroll through dozens of font options.