One of the things that I have seen is a lot of designers and entrepreneurs struggle with is the number of fonts. The fonts they use of the branding that they are working on or on their own. There is no hard and fast rule to this you can’t point out that it is wrong on a creative perspective but it should feel right.
We need to understand that a brand is more than a logo. A brand is an emotion that the public conjures up when they consume your product, see your logo flash across the television set, or interact with your website..
There is no exact rule. Two fonts are that sweet spot where any brand can make an impact through their brand identity’s visual. So, don’t clutter it by using too many fonts, but what you can do is use different font variations like bold, medium or italics, etc. In design, it is about communicating the right message while never leaving the harbour of simplicity.
That is the key for a great design, stay simple, be sufficient and be recognizable.
Most of the people working in the creative design industry cannot figure out whether the fonts that they have used are communicating well or not. This must have been kind of a shock to you, how can elements within the logo communicate to each other. Aren’t they supposed to be used for just communicating the right values and messages to the customer who is looking at it? Well, you have got an incomplete picture of a brand identity if you believe that.
Introduction
While making logos think of it like how the person would interact with the logo, where would his/her eyes go from start to begin. And when putting different elements think how they are complementing each other. This should be without overshadowing or taking over the whole design.
A lot of times what I see is many designers can create really good visuals, but when it comes to fonts it just takes all their efforts into the oblivion. It eats up the whole logo. Due to that small mistake, a client can just hate that visual. It might leave you thinking, but the logo was so good. I put in so much effort and even the idea was killer.
A client won’t be able to point out that the use of font, not appropriate, but they would just look at the logo and decide they do not like it. Some client with a shiny light behind his head and angels singing in the background might shower their wisdom on you ” I love the idea, but change the fonts.”
When you use too many fonts it looks cluttered, and it can also be confusing to the people who are looking at the logo.
How I decide the number of fonts while designing a logo for the client
- Look Closely
- Designate a Feeling
- Communicate through Fonts
Look Closely
Look at the name that you are going to use in branding. Now, look at other information that you need to show in the branding like a tagline or slogan. Don’t just rush to write it in Illustrator and choose a font. Take a step back, look at it for a moment and see if you can see some unique distinctions in the words.
See what word needs more attention, or what word can make the logo more recognizable by treating just a little differently.
Sometimes different elements can be used as anchor points to stick easily in the customer’s mind. It can play into more success of the brand for which the logo has been designed.
Designate a Feeling
After taking time to absorb the words, you are going to make three columns. Above each column, you are going to write the part of the name in a way that there is some clear difference between them.
For instance, if the name is branding queen (Now don’t laugh, honestly, this was the first word that came to my head). In this name one way is you can give it a single font which feels right to you, but what would I do is I will break down the word. I will write different values that each word possesses. Branding- Professional, trustworthy, Classic, Ambitious, etc. Whatever you can think of.
Similarly, I will do it for Queen- Feminine, Royal, sophisticated, playful, etc. This is about designating a feeling with your Brand. A feeling that is personal and memorable.
Communicate through fonts
In the last step, you will designate a font or a variation for a single column. Sometimes you can also choose just a single font if it goes well. It is not a mandate that you ought to choose different fonts. You will see what font would be able to communicate those values under each column well.
In the beginning, it will take you a lot more time to do it, but trust me with the time you will get quicker and quicker at it. After a point, it will take you just a couple of seconds for you to dissect the name in different fonts.
This phase is not just about choosing the right font for the right word. You also need to make sure that the fonts that you are incorporating in the logo are complementing each other. And of course, they do not look awkward together. The whole logo should look great as a unit. It should feel like created from different parts.
Nothing can beat the recognition of a simple logo, it is always more memorable and impactful. So you can make a simple logo which can be perfectly relevant for the business even with a single font. Sometimes it is better to use a single font rather than various fonts.
Designing a logo is just like assembling a car, each independently created part adjoins to form a car which looks perfect as a unit. You might not look at all the different parts when you look at it, but what you see is just a finished. You see it as a breathtaking machine which can take you places.
The end
Simple rule which I live by is to keep in mind that what’s readable to you is not readable to everyone. Check if nothing pisses off readers more than fonts that make you squint and struggle to figure out what the words are. DESIGN IS MEANT TO AID READABILITY, never sacrifice that for fancy.
When in doubt, post a mockup to Facebook or Instagram 10 friends and say “what do you think about these fonts?” Feedback is always subjective, but if you’re getting a bunch of, “Holy shit I can’t even read this. ” PICK A UNIQUE FONT. There are so many lovely ones to choose from, after all.
I hope the process that I follow can help you get better at designing logos. I would love to have feedback on what you think about my process of creating a logo design, please feel free to leave a comment.
