What's Your Type?

Fonts evoke emotion. They are everywhere (EVERYWHERE!)

Whether designing an album cover, brand identity, packaging, or poster, the right font enhances storytelling and conveys the intended message to your audience, helping them connect with and invest in the idea, product, or service.

Typography communicates the core of a brand and makes a powerful first impression.

It was on Fraser Muggeridge’s Typography Summer School meeting the late Ken Garland 2015, and later while working at Barnbrook, 2016 that I became obsessed with fonts. Today, I explore how the right choice of typography can elevate a brand, why fonts are so important in design and how you can use them.

1. UNDERSTAND YOUR BRAND PERSONALITY

Selecting fonts that reflect the tone, style, and identity of your brand will help you to communicate to who you want to invest in your product or service.? For example, a luxury brand that wants to evoke feelings of trust could favour an elegant serif font, while a modern tech brand might choose clean sans-serif fonts. Fonts across the board should represent your brand’s values and personality. Go hunting for interesting fonts that have large families.

2. RESEARCH

Fonts are everywhere! While it can be tempting to follow font trends, choosing something timeless ensures your design remains relevant longer. A balance between modernity and longevity will help your project stay fresh over time. Instead of just heading to Pinterest head to the streets! Take photographs of your surroundings and document anything you love––this will help you form a bespoke library/inspiration resource point. Here’s some of our recent inspiration for a new and exciting project we are working on atm!

Fonts in Use is an essential resource for us designers because it showcases typefaces in real-world applications across a variety of projects, from editorial layouts to branding and packaging. By displaying fonts within actual design contexts, it offers valuable insights into how typefaces can convey tone, achieve readability, and create impact, making it a rich source of inspiration. With background information and analysis on each example, Fonts in Use helps us designers understand typographic choices in context, discover new fonts, and learn effective font pairings, ultimately enhancing both creative exploration and practical application. By seeing how a font sits within the context of other fonts and situations, it’s also a good way to imagine whether a font you like would work well for your brand or project.

3. HEIRARCHY and accessibility

Use 2-3 complementary fonts for visual harmony: a primary font for headings, a secondary for body text, and an optional accent for special elements. Prioritise legibility, especially for body text—keep it simple and clear. Bold, attention-grabbing fonts work well for headlines, while subtle fonts suit subheadings and body copy. Test fonts in various sizes and devices to ensure readability. For balanced design, try pairing contrasting fonts, like serif with sans-serif, and maintain high contrast for accessibility.Having too many an not having a system would make things chaotic. Bold, eye-catching fonts for headlines paired with more subtle fonts for subheadings and body text help guide the reader’s attention through the content. Simple, clear fonts are best for longer content, while more decorative fonts can be used sparingly for headings or accents. Test the font in different sizes and on various devices to ensure it remains readable and test different font pairings to achieve a balanced design. Pairing contrasting fonts can create visual interest without overwhelming the audience. High contrast between text and background, along with clear, simple fonts, improves readability for a wider audience. Ensure the fonts work across different formats (web, print, mobile). Some fonts may look good in large formats but might not translate well to smaller sizes or on screens, so ensure they scale appropriately.

4. FONT LICENSING

Some fonts are free for personal use but require a licence for professional work. Google Fonts offer a lot (a lot!) of licence free typeface options. This means Google have paid the type designer so people like you and I can use even for commercial purposes––royalty free. If you work with a typeface that’s on a website platform such as Squarespace, it usually means the company has paid the typographer for rights for their customers to use the font.

Alternatively, Open Souce Publishing is a collection of libre fonts created by OSP, available for use and modification without licencing fees.

5. WORK WITH A TYPOGRAPHER

A custom typeface is designed with your brand’s unique personality, values, and target audience in mind, making it a one-of-a-kind asset that can’t be replicated or found elsewhere.

An example of a brand using a bespoke font is Airbnb's custom typeface, Airbnb Cereal. Created by the type foundry Dalton Maag, this font was designed to embody Airbnb’s brand values of warmth, approachability, and modernity. Airbnb needed a font that could work across multiple languages and platforms, from mobile devices to large billboards, while maintaining a cohesive look and feel.

The creation of a bespoke typeface like this involves a considerable investment, often ranging from ￡50,000 to ￡200,000 for the full alphabet. Or more, depending on factors like complexity, language support, and exclusivity. While high, this investment pays off for large brands by reinforcing brand recognition and consistency, enhancing user experience.

6. TYPE DESIGN FOR YOUR BIZ

Investing in a custom-made font with a designer like Jo Malinis (Süss Cake Studio), or Marie Boulanger (Wizz&Co, Camelēr Spice Co., BEAST Casting , Lesley Beastall Casting) offers brands a tailored visual language that enhances recognition and creates a deeper connection with their audience. This personalised approach to typography not only elevates the brand's aesthetic but also reinforces its individuality and authenticity. Here are some examples of type studies that Marie (now at Monotype ) came up with when creating the visual language for BEAST Casting; a collaboration with ALStudio back in 2020.

The extra cost of working with a type designer reflects the expertise and creative process involved in crafting letterforms that reflect your brand’s essence, giving you a distinctive, cohesive and memorable identity that elevates your business and resonates with your audience in ways other fonts cannot. Read more on type design here.

7. TRENDS AND CULTURE

If your project has a global audience, ensure the font supports necessary language characters and respects cultural differences, as fonts may have different connotations in various regions. A type designer can help you understand these intricacies too. Think also about how trends like blanding could impact your brand.

Creative Boom’s article Top 50 Fonts in 2025 highlights diverse typefaces that will shape the design landscape in 2025. This collection includes elegant serifs optimised for digital readability, bold sans-serifs for branding, and unique handwritten and display fonts with distinct personalities. Each font is chosen for its versatility, extensive language support, and adaptability across various design applications––serving as inspiration for designers seeking fresh and functional typography.

RESOURCES

Virus Fonts, Jonathan Barnbrook’s font foundry, was established in 1997 and is globally recognised for its original and custom fonts. It offers bespoke fonts for projects and customised versions of existing ones. Notable fonts Exocet and Mason are available via Emigre. The typefaces that this studio create are often used within film titles, and so much more.

Typeverything is a type foundry specialising in the development of display fonts. Founded in 2011 by Andrei Robu, the foundry brings together a collective of independent type designers focused on creating exceptional fonts for diverse projects. Typeverything has earned the trust of leading studios and renowned brands worldwide, providing fonts ideal for branding, advertising, and digital media.

Creative Boom’s November 2024 font roundup features versatile new releases for varied design needs. Highlights include RT Dromo’s Swiss-inspired style, Season’s variable sans-serif hybrid, and PP Neue Corp for branding. Innovator Grotesk, Rockfall, and Lightshift offer bold, retro-inspired options, while Kristolit merges tech and classic Scotch Roman influences, suitable for both editorial and digital projects.

Brandon Nickerson’s site is popular for its high-quality font collection and user-friendly design. It offers a variety of typefaces. A standout feature is its weekly free font offering—subscribers to the newsletter receive a new font every week, allowing designers to expand their font libraries at no extra cost. This approach keeps users engaged and builds a community around Nickerson's work.

Dinamo team up with names like Burberry, Nike, Spotify, and even Alicia Keys. With every project, Dinamo finds creative ways to make type work for each client’s vibe, whether it's a big brand or a cultural space. They’ve spoken at places like the Forward Festival in Berlin, Strelka Institute in Moscow, and the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp.

Five reasons why you should work with a good designer

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