How do you choose web fonts that match your brand identity?

I would add that it's vital to consider whether or not a brand's font can translate to the web effectively. A font initially designed for print and other media may not be legible or ideal for digital environments. Therefore, adding new fonts or modernizing the brand may be necessary if legibility is a factor. It's also essential to select fallback fonts for branding guidelines. For example, many custom fonts do not appear in all email browsers. If a brand's font is Montserrat, you may want to define fallback "websafe" sans serifs such as Helvetica or Arial.

Privacy laws in Europe in particular, restrict the use of Google Fonts because the Google Fonts service collects IP address information which is not allowed under GDPR. You can work around this requirement by loading the fonts through your own domain.

I would add that it’s very important to also select typefaces from independent foundries and markets that are really high quality. It will be worth the investment in order to make your brand stand out.

Keep your web fonts consistent with your brand's identity manual so print and web materials are cohesive. It's important to choose a highly legible font for your brand nowadays so that it reads easily on both mobile phones and physical signs (think way-finding). Good tried and true choices are sans serif fonts like Avenir and Helvetica.

This is great for very basic and entry level design. There is a whole world of independent foundries and markets that can also be considered. Foundries like: Klim type, Grilli type, Lineto, just to name a few. Remember: if there are millions of other people using google fonts, your brand is not being unique, it’s joining an army of sameness.

Let professional designers do this for you. But if you can't afford it, use resource such as TypeWolf. They have a neat feature (suggested font pairing) when you click a specific typeface you like. To be on the safe side, use font variations from the same typeface family.

If you are unsure how to combine and set your web fonts, stick to the basics and use simple fonts like Roboto or Open Sans, especially for your text and subheads. These fonts have various thicknesses and styles and can help make your website more readable and interesting. They are also responsive and work with all colors. They also pair well with most serif and decorative fonts, in case you use them for headlines.

I would say that the order of thinking is improved if you lead with accessibility in mind first. Especially if your brand desires to be open and accessible to different audiences. This work should be embedded within the core design and in my opinion not added through third-party accessibility software. An example of this is making your font more legible ensuring your fonts b, d, p and q's are different (an example being FS Me https://www.fontshop.com/families/fs-me). Finally. Do the hard yards so your user doesn't have to.

A massive issue to consider that hasn't really been discussed in this article is to make sure that every single web font used on your website is royalty free or that you have paid for the license. And even if you have paid for the font make sure you are allowed to use it for the purpose you are and on the specific domain you have it on. CNBC, Universal Studios and TNT were sued for millions due to improper use of a paid font and this is just one of the most recent cases of this quite common occurrence that isn't really often talked about.

In my experience, when your firm is capable of investing in brand identity, you hire professional designers. They will do the work: pick typeface, choose font combinations, weight, size, etc. When the firm is small and unheard of, I am sorry, but there is no "brand". And honestly there is no point investing in brand identity unless the firm can hire professionals to design it.

Typefaces with a comprehensive collection of variants can impact the performance of your site and the time it takes to load your site. Make sure you are only using the variants that you need instead of all of them.