A Fontastic Dilemma: Why Fonts Matter in

You need air to breathe. You need words to read. You need fonts to make an impact. In the modern age, we have so many external stimuli around us that influence us in big and small ways that the constant, standard, day-to-day stimuli are often left unnoticed.

You think nothing of them, or so it seems. You don’t notice the air until it blows and makes you feel cool. You don’t think anything of the fonts until you go grocery shopping, and a bottle of Coca-Cola seems more pleasing to the eye than standard Soda.

Brands nowadays seem to have a new logo every other day, don’t they? I could swear Pepsi changed its logo thrice between me buying two bottles. Branding is not merely dependent upon the logo but also the font. Of course, branding is not all they do.

Readability and Customer Retention are some of the most important functions of fonts. I’m sure no one wants to read a research paper written in “Broadway” instead of, say, “Times New Roman”. Similarly, I'd hazard a guess that a customer will be attracted to a product with “Edwardian Script ITC” on it rather than, say, “Kristen ITC”.

You see what I mean? It takes different strokes, digitally speaking, for different goals. Remember, just as it’s important to know what font to use, it’s just as important to know when to use it. “Freestyle Script” may work very well in a title or a name for a product, but you cannot write the disclaimers and list of ingredients for your product and expect people to read, or even like, it.

All in all, while you may very well not notice it in the world around you, fonts matter. Sometimes more so than other times, but all the time. If you want to market something, share ideas, spread information, or just create fun things, you need to learn to master them in today’s day and age. Font is the air around you; just because it doesn’t stand out, it doesn't mean it doesn’t affect the world around you greatly.