The designers here at Barnyard Marketing are obsessed with fonts. We talk about typography, critique each other on the fonts we’ve chosen, and spend lots of time choosing just the right font for our customers’ design projects.
Why Do Fonts Matter in Design?
Choosing the right font is more important than most people think. Fonts communicate the mood or feelings behind a brand, show the hierarchy of information, and can attract the right audience.
A poorly chosen font can mean your ideal customer isn’t getting the message you want them to receive. Many designers have specific fonts that they don’t ever use (i.e. Comic Sans or Papyrus). Here’s a funny video about the use of Papyrus in the popular movie “Avatar.”
Fonts We Are Loving Right Now
I asked the Barnyard Marketing designers about what fonts they like to use and why. We each have different opinions, but we can all agree on one thing…The medium and the audience are most important when choosing the right font.
CANDICE
Candice is all about Sans Serif fonts right now. “They look more modern,” she said. One of her favorite sans serif fonts is “DIN” becasue it is readable.
A serif is a decorative stroke that finishes off the end of a letters stem (sometimes also called the “feet” of the letters). In turn, a serif font is a font that has serifs, while a sans serif is a font that does not (hence the “sans”).
Candice also likes to use “Futura” and “Proxima Nova” which are more popular sans serif fonts.
ROBERT
Robert’s taste in fonts is quite unique. He likes old Italian fonts that have not been modernized because he thinks they are easier on the eyes.
For example, one of his favorite fonts, “Linden Hill,” has a 30 degree letter opening tilt which tells you it’s likely from the Renaissance Era. This font may be easier to read than most modern fonts that are tilted between 45 and 90 degrees.
Robert suggests using The League of Movable Type (an open-source font foundry) to get some awesome fonts.
ANNA
Becaue the majority of writing I do is for the web, I like sans serif fonts like Proxima Nova or Myraid Pro.
My favorite font right now is Bebas Neue, which in my opinion, really makes a statement. I usually choose fonts for a customer after taking the time to learn about their business, their target audience, and the business’s personality. My number one priority is to make the typography legible and easy to read from a distance.