{"id":139747,"date":"2017-09-11T11:00:37","date_gmt":"2017-09-11T16:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/getflywheel.com\/?p=24153"},"modified":"2023-03-23T11:30:33","modified_gmt":"2023-03-23T16:30:33","slug":"psychology-of-typography","status":"publish","type":"resource","link":"https:\/\/wpengine.com\/case-studies\/resources\/psychology-of-typography\/","title":{"rendered":"The Psychology of Typography"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Along with color, the way you use typography on your website is a key element that can determine the success\u2014or failure\u2014of your site. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The written word has been around for centuries as a means of allowing us to express emotions, share stories, and communicate our thoughts. But you only need to look at the rise of Instagram and Snapchat compared with the decline of Twitter to realize that the written word has stiff competition from video and images. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Today, having engrossing copy on your website isn\u2019t enough. It needs to be presented in a way that fits with your brand style, engages with your audience, and enhances their experience on your site.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/getflywheel-images.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/uploads\/2017\/09\/pexels-photo-316465.jpeg\" alt=\"pencil coloring in block letters of the word CREATE\" class=\"wp-image-24184\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The challenge of digital typography is to communicate your brand personality, influence how your users feel when they land on your site, and attract people\u2019s attention and guide them to taking the decisions you want them to take. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sound like a challenge? Here are some tips on using typography to engage your audience.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><b>Express Your Brand Personality<\/b><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Once upon a time, people would use your handwriting to judge your personality. While times have changed, they haven\u2019t changed <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">that<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> much! Today people judge your brand personality by the fonts you use on your website and other marketing materials. So if you want to express your brand personality accurately, choose carefully.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Fonts can be grouped into a number of different categories.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Serif fonts, such as Times New Roman, Baskerville, and Georgia, have decorative lines (serifs) at the end of each character. They\u2019re associated with tradition, authority, reliability, and respectability.<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sans serif fonts, such as Helvetica, Arial, Museo Sans Rounded, and Verdana, don\u2019t have the decorative lines. They\u2019re seen as being clean, modern, objective, and stable. <\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Script fonts, like Lucinda, Lobster, and Brush Script, are based on the flow of handwriting. They\u2019re used to convey a sense of elegance, creativity, and friendliness. <\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Slab fonts, including Courier, Bevan, Aracher, and Rockwell, are characterized by bold serifs. Use them if you want to appear bold, strong, or expressive in your business. <\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Modern fonts, like Futura, Politica, and Eurostyle, are chic, stylish, and used to portray a sense of progressiveness and intelligence. <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When choosing fonts for your site, think carefully about how you wish your brand and business to be seen, and what your target audience might be seeking. An elaborate script could be enticing to somebody shopping for boutique clothes, whereas it may comes across as snobby to the person shopping for combat pants. A sans serif font may appeal to a hipster seeking a fancy dining experience, but strike a homeowner looking for insurance as being flighty and untrustworthy. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A word of warning when it comes to choosing fonts\u2014don\u2019t go crazy trying to fit several different fonts onto your website. This overcomplicates the design and makes the page look cluttered and messy. Best practice is to use one style of font for your body copy and another for the headers. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><b>Pay Attention to the Formatting<\/b><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/getflywheel-images.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/uploads\/2017\/09\/bruno-martins-25865.jpg\" alt=\"old style metal and wood letters for a printing press in various typefaces\" class=\"wp-image-24185\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If the formatting on a site is done well, it will barely be acknowledged. But if it\u2019s out of whack, it can cause havoc for your users and drive them away from your site.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Size and spacing are both integral factors. If your brand is bold and brash, large lettering will immediately grab people\u2019s attention and it will help get your message across within seconds of landing on the page. But some brands may want to come across as being quiet and gentle. Using small lettering surrounded by whitespace feels a little as though you\u2019re whispering. It encourages people to lean in and listen carefully.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Size also matters in terms of readability. The average size for body text is between 12 and 14 pixels, whereas headers can be anything from 18 to 29. Use different font sizes to draw people\u2019s attention to the most important parts of the text, though, as with font styles, don\u2019t use too many sizes in one section as it will appear messy and slapdash. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Make clever use of whitespace to improve people\u2019s comprehension of the text and make it easy to digest. Don\u2019t space lines so closely that people get them mixed up as they\u2019re reading across the page, but take care that there isn\u2019t too large a leap either\u2014both make it difficult to engage with the text and digest the information. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lean back and look at each page objectively. If readers are faced with a wall of text, it can feel impenetrable and overwhelming. Break the content into manageable chunks with plenty of whitespace so the content can \u2018breathe.\u2019 Each paragraph should introduce a new concept to help guide the reader into the text and engage with your website. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><b>Color it Right<\/b><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Historically, when writers wanted to draw people\u2019s attention to certain aspects of text, they had two options: bold or italics. In today\u2019s digital age, we have a much better tool at our fingertips\u2014<a href=\"https:\/\/wpengine.com\/resources\/design-psychology-part-1-color\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">color<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Because a site\u2019s readability is crucial, we tend to stick to black on white for the main body text. But then we can play with colors within a text to highlight important elements and create emphasis for the reader.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On a website, use color to make your call to action stand out so your readers know exactly what to do next. Introduce color in your navigation menus to draw people\u2019s attention and make their options clear. It\u2019s also a brilliant tool for product descriptions, highlighting important words and phrases so they can be seen at a glance.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/getflywheel-images.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/uploads\/2017\/09\/joe-shillington-240205-1.jpg\" alt=\"several colored pencils in a cup\" class=\"wp-image-24183\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When choosing colors for your text, remember that different colors hold different cultural associations. Much like choosing your fonts, take care that the colors you use for your text portray the right tone and style for your brand. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The role of text on your website is much greater than the words that you use. Typography has the power to influence your readers emotions, help them engage with your website, and improve their overall experience. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Along with color, the way you use typography on your website is a key element that can determine the success\u2014or failure\u2014of your site. The written word has been around for centuries as a means of allowing us to express emotions, share stories, and communicate our thoughts. But you only need to look at the rise<span class=\"tile__ellipses\">&hellip;<\/span><span class=\"tile__ellipses--animated\"><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":141801,"template":"","resource-topic":[1396],"resource-role":[1397],"resource-type":[916],"class_list":["post-139747","resource","type-resource","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Psychology of Typography<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Finding the perfect font or typeface can be a challenge. 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