How to choose a font for your technology brand

People often overlook typography when thinking about their brand. Yet, typography and fonts are essential parts of communicating your brand. Choosing the right font is as important as using graphics, colour and images.

In this blog, I will discuss typography and the font types for technology companies as well as some of the free and paid options.

 The vital role of typography in business

In simple terms, typography is written text. It relates to the style and way the text is presented and it is the main tool for communication. When it comes to your logo, it’s important to choose a readable font. Having a font that is difficult to read or a light-weight font can cause problems. For example, when reducing the size of your logo, it might be difficult to read. It should be clear what your business is called so people can recognise the name.

Using one or two fonts throughout all marketing collateral shows consistency. You should have the best possible typography for your website and print materials because they contain your main messages. If you choose a font that is different from standard ‘Arial’ or Microsoft fonts, you can show your customers more than just the written word itself. Typography allows your business to convey your tone and values through it, similar to how colour can represent a feeling. It allows your brand to have a personality by selecting the appropriate font.

The best fonts for technology companies (free & paid fonts)

I’ve written about branding and the crucial role of fonts. Here is a list of the top 5 Google Fonts for technology companies that are often looking to convey innovation, credibility and forward-thinking. 

Exo 2:

A font which has a technical look n' feel as some letters like a, e, g and o, in particular, are quite geometric and not as round as the normal sans serif fonts. The “round” edges work well for a modern technical e.g. IT company. As this font has a lot of different weights its usage is very versatile.

https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Exo+2

Titillium Web:

This font has quite geometrical letters similar to Exo 2, but isn’t as technical and unusual as Exo 2 and feels more organic. It works well for a technical company which has human/social parts to it as well.

https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Titillium+Web

Montserrat:

This font is versatile, and its letters run quite wide. Therefore, it could be used for a strong global technical company, but other companies could make use of this font as well. It really depends on how you combine this font with colour and shapes.

https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Montserrat

Oxygen:

This font isn’t very technical upon first sight, but I love some letters that give a hint of a technical side like the g and a. If you are a technology company focusing on more human or service-oriented values, this font is ideal for you!

https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Oxygen

 Ubuntu:

This font is popular as it has quite unusual letters e.g. m, n, w, r and u. It has a very modern look n' feel and can be used for technical and other companies. But because of its popularity, you should have a look at your competitors first and see if they don’t use the same font.

https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Ubuntu

Sometimes, you need to pay for fonts

Google fonts can be downloaded for free, meaning that they aren’t so unique and very popular. To have that little bit of uniqueness, considering a paid font is also an option. Why pay for a font when I can get one for free, you say?

It can be difficult to understand the difference and why you should pay for fonts. Free fonts such as Google Fonts have limited alternatives. They’ll usually have a lightweight option, regular and sometimes a bold option. Most of Google fonts are also great for online and desktop writing. However, if you want to print something, they might not be the best choice. Choosing these fonts is easy, they are free after all. But the paid ones are better in quality with a lot more weights and styles.

The difficult part when discussing paid-for fonts is that people are often shocked at having to pay for them. They have Microsoft with a huge list of fonts that appear to be ‘free’. Nothing is ever free. These fonts are included in the Microsoft package, you are always paying in some way.

Some paid fonts to consider are ‘Avenir’, ‘Univers’ and ‘Gotham’. These fonts were created by designers around 20-50 years ago. Here’s a brief overview of each one:

Avenir:

This sans serif font was created by Adrian Frutiger in 1987 and since then shaped to be a bit more modern. It’s a well-used font in all corporate design that would suit technology companies very well. The word Avenir is French for "future". For instance, its geometric shapes make it strong and suggest a futuristic look n’ feel. Yet, it’s not too bold. Avenir is used as a corporate font by Seagate Technology who is mainly known for creating hard drives.

https://www.myfonts.com/fonts/linotype/avenir/

Univers:

This is a classic font, also created by Adrian Frutiger in 1954. It is a well-thought-through and established neo-grotesque font which didn’t lose its modernity although being over 50 years old. Univers has a comprehensive but consistent range of weights and styles. For instance, Adobe uses this font as its corporate one.

https://www.myfonts.com/fonts/linotype/univers/

 Gotham:

This font has been hugely popular in the 2000s. It was famously used by the Obama presidential election campaign. This font is versatile, and its letters run quite wide. Therefore, it could be used for a strong global technical company, but other companies could make use of this font as well. It really depends on how you combine this font with colour and shapes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gotham_(typeface)

Other considerations when choosing a font for your business

Another option is to create your own font. A medium-sized company might decide to do this rather than pay for their 100 licenses. Netflix and IBM have their own font. They claim to be saving millions of dollars a year by switching from Helvetica to IBM Plex and Gotham to Netflix Sans respectively. Having no recurring payment of licenses to their thousands of employees could be the reason for this.

Something else to consider, especially if you plan on growing your technology business, is the need for multiple languages. For example, if you launch in a market where English is the main language, there might be no need to consider other languages. However, if you then grow into a foreign market and need to communicate with an Arabic audience for instance. Licensing another font is an additional cost if you have chosen an initial font that has the characters you need. Creating your own font might combat this dilemma.

There are plenty of places that you can download great fonts free of charge – some more trustworthy than others. A common source of free fonts is Google. There are over 800 font families of various types including sans serif, script and more. MyFonts is another source of fonts that offers new fonts from new designers as well as established fonts. They have good categories and a mixture of free and paid-for fonts.

If you’re launching a technology brand or reviewing your existing one, feel free to get in touch with me by emailing [email protected]. I’d love to hear from you!