Types of Type: Using Typography to Support Your Brand

Younger readers may not know what this is.

There aren’t just two styles of typefaces (or, as most people incorrectly call them, fonts) in the world. There are many. There are Scripts, Gothics, Grotesques, Stencils and a vast constellation of display typefaces that defy categorization. But for most people, it comes down to a simple choice: serifs or sans serfs?

The origins of this particular myth are unclear, but it’s often assumed that serif typefaces are, somehow, easier to read than sans serif typefaces and should be used in any publishing circumstance that prioritizes legibility. The only explanation I’ve ever heard for this supposed phenomenon has to do with the presence of serifs — tiny filigrees at the top and bottom of most letterforms — and how they enhance the reading experience by providing resting points for the eye to use while scanning lines of text.

At the risk of beheading my own straw man, this theory fails the most basic test of common sense. Text is not read letter by letter. If it was, reading would be a slow, painful process that would never become easier with age or practice. People read by scanning lines of text for familiar letter patterns. Letters are not read individually; words are. This is why new words trip us up: They present us with unfamiliar patterns that have to be decoded more slowly than common ones.

If you’re looking for further proof of the legibility fallacy, consider this: What situation in modern life depends the greatest on the ability to read unfamiliar text as quickly as possible? Might it be while driving? And what style of typography is almost universally used in directional signage (with the curious exception of signs belonging to the National Park Service)? Sans serif.

Why Do We Have Serifs?

So what’s the advantage of serif typography? With any well-designed typeface, it should come down to a question of style.

It’s worth remembering that serifs are artefacts of the earliest days of typography. Though of different provenance, both Babylonian cuneiform and chiseled Roman text were festooned with these purposeless alphabetic details. They’ve survived through the slow evolution from hammer and chisel through pen and ink, from the mechanical printing press through the world wide web out of a sense of tradition and habit.

Serifs have retained that connotation to this day. There is a personal, hand-made quality to most serif typography that sans serifs deliberately eschew.

Your Typeface Is Your Personality

As you make decisions about the character and editorial voice of your magazine brand, consider the adjectives that could be used to describe it:

• Warm? Conversational? Informal? Conservative? If so, your magazine might be a good candidate for a primary serif typeface.

• How about authoritative? Scientific? Forward-looking? Perhaps a sans serif typeface is right for you.

But these are false choices. Good magazines are made by the intelligent blending and contrast of voices, both textually and visually. The interplay among typefaces helps to provide a predictable hierarchy of information as well as a lively balancing of different content styles. In fact, the following typographic decisions are much more influential to your readers’ experiences than typeface selection:

1. Caps vs. lower case: Capital letters suggest VOLUME. Use them when you’re trying to declare important information or grab attention.

2. Bold vs. light: Bold characters are composed of more ink than light ones. That creates contrast with the white of the paper that naturally draws in the reader’s focus. Use the style accordingly.

3. Wide vs. tight spacing: When you increase the space between the individual letters in a word, you break up the recognizable pattern that makes the word instantly recognizable to the reader. That will slow their progress down; make sure you have a reason for wanting their attention to linger on that part of the page.

As with any good design decision, the typographic treatments in your magazine should serve strategic purposes before aesthetic ones. Of course that loopy, delicate script will make your magazine prettier. But is it a match for your editorial voice and magazine brand? Is it solving an immediate content problem, rather reinforcing your magazine’s long-term identity?

Think of your magazine’s family of typefaces as a cast of actors and fit the role to the performer. You wouldn’t pick Al Pacino to play Peter Pan (though I’d pay to see that).

If you’re not sure how well your current typography helps or hurts your brand, contact Quarto Creative for a complimentary audit. Reach out at contact@quartocreative.com or 224-730-1083.