When it comes to choosing a font, it’s difficult to say why we might prefer one over another. Usually we end up with a nondescript reason like, “this one looks better” or “I liked this one best.” But designers know that typography is an important part of any design.
Today we’ll take a look at some of the basic concepts of typography. We’ll look at what it is, some research behind how it helps us produce meaning, as well as whether you should choose a serif or sans serif font. That way, you can start choosing fonts more intentionally.
What Is Typography?
According to Butterick’s Practical Typography, typography is “the visual component of the written word.” It’s how something gets communicated in print form. It’s not what is being printed; that’s called the text. It’s how the text looks and communicates. In his book, Butterick answers the all-important question: why does font choice matter? He says, “Typography matters because it helps conserve the most valuable resource you have . . . reader attention.”
Ethos3 is a presentation design company. And we believe that every single part of a presentation is communicating. The colors you use. The tone of your voice. The content of your speech. The posture you take. The images you show. And the font that you choose. That’s why we think it’s important to make educated decisions about things like typography.
Typographic Efficiency
Although many of us choose a font based on instinct or personal preference, there is actually scientific research that can guide us. When choosing a font, designers look at what they call “typographic efficiency” which is composed of two categories. The first is legibility and the second is readability.
Legibility deals with how easily the letter or word can be read. Designers might look at specific letters to see how easily recognizable they are. Does the “g” look like a “g,” or is it so fancy that it’s hard to make out what letter it is at first glance?
Readability, on the other hand, looks at comprehension in larger chunks, like sentences or paragraphs. The most commonly used fonts like Times New Roman, Arial, and Calibri have high readability. This means readers can get through them fairly quickly while still understanding what they are reading. Typographic efficiency is so important that it can even be mood-altering. Researchers from Microsoft and MIT found that a poor font choice caused readers to become frustrated.
Serif or Sans Serif?
This is one of the most important decisions you’ll make when choosing a font. According to Natalie Downey, Senior Designer at Duckpin, “A serif is a decorative line or taper added to the beginning and/or end of a letter’s stem, which creates small horizontal and vertical planes within a word.” You can see the difference in typography below.
But which one should you choose? Branding agent Robyn Young says that serif fonts feel more traditional. That’s because we are used to seeing them “in books, newspapers, and magazines, which is why they remind us of more classical, formal, and sophisticated themes.” Young suggests serif fonts for companies that “want to be seen as trustworthy, established, and reliable.”
On the other hand, Young suggests that less traditional companies use sans serif fonts. These types of fonts tend to be a bit more modern. Young says that sans serifs can work to communicate youthfulness, approachability, modern sophistication, and playfulness.
Research addressed in Cognition Today shows that you should also take into account how much text your audience will be reading and how much time they’ll have to read it. Studies suggest that you should use serif fonts if you want your audience to stick with the text longer. However, you should use sans serif fonts if you want your audience read more in a short time. So if you are giving a presentation, it might make sense to use a sans serif font because the audience will only be able to read the text while you have it up on the screen.
When it comes to choosing a font for your marketing materials or your presentation media, let science rather than intuition guide you. Take into account how important typography is, how your audience will be using it, and what you want to communicate with your visual text.
If picking a font is entirely overwhelming for you, perhaps you’ll want to enlist the help of one of our expert designers at Ethos3.
