Finding the perfect font family for a branding project can be a grueling task. Between identity, business and design considerations, you can spend days in what may start to feel like a scavenger hunt. At some point, you’ve probably looked at so many fonts that they all started to look the same. I’ve been there, and it can be depressing. My goal with this article is to point you to a few font families that provide distinction, readability, flexibility, and timelessness – four factors that are crucial for brand typography. I explore many other ideas about brand symbols in the Lean Branding book, in case you’re interested in learning more. For now, let’s look at logo-ready fonts for 5 different industries:
- Fashion Brands
- Consulting Brands
- Lifestyle Brands
- Tech Brands
- Hospitality Brands
You can find even more unique fonts that are ideal for branding projects here.
1. Fashion Brands
Some of the main traits to keep in mind while looking for a font that’s fit for your fashion brand include exclusivity, sophistication, and extensibility. Remember that whatever font family you select will likely be applied across different types of mediums: packaging (bags, boxes), retail elements, print, web, and more. It’s important to note, and please remember this as you read the rest of this article, that none of these recommendations are dogmatic – branding rules and conventions are being defied all the time, and that’s OK too.
Recommended font families
2. Consulting Brands
Moreso than other types of brands, consulting brands need to convey trustworthiness and solidity. People need to be able to believe in your professional competencies to solve their most pressing issues. This notion of trust can be established with a solid brand identity that projects cohesion and care.
Recommended font families
3. Tech Brands
Like consulting brands, tech brands are strongly dependent on reliability. Can we portray how stable and modern our product is with sound design decisions? Most importantly: can we differentiate our offer from that of competitors in such a saturated marketplace? True: brands in every other category on this list will need to think about web typography. Also true: tech brands will probably prioritize this factor even more.
Recommended font families
4. Lifestyle Brands
Lifestyle brands often focus on aspirations – those ingrained human desires that can only (or better) be achieved through this specific product/service/content. Think about a fitness blogger that uses various types of products to help you get closer to that ideal figure, or a fashion brand that has expanded into the pizza business (hi, Urban Outfitters!). While these brands’ initial space might have been clearly defined, they slowly began to transcend that original purpose and started to offer services that impact nearly every area of our lives.
Recommended font families
5. Hospitality Brands
Hospitality businesses, specifically hotels, restaurants and cafés, are responsible for creating a welcoming experience that users look forward to repeating. The idea of comfort is at the core of these brands and their identity. Therefore, employing font families that point to delight, tranquility and joy is a key consideration for designers in this space.
Recommended font families
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Brand strategist. Creating design tools to empower creative entrepreneurs. Author of the Lean Branding book. MA in Design Management from the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD).
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