Using the right font or typeface can make or break the design of your signage. If you choose one correctly, you’d be able to effectively convey the message of your design. If done wrongly, your message may not even come across. Your choice of font will say a lot about your business and the kind of quality and service that your customers can expect.
There are over 500,000 fonts to choose from so choosing one can easily get you disheartened. But worry not as we’ve got you covered.
In this article, we’d list all the essential information you’d need to know when it comes to choosing the right font for your signage. As a plus, we’d also enlist the top 10 best fonts that will go well with signages.
PRO TIPS: The Proper Use of Psychology
Knowing when to opt for an ‘upper care’ or ‘lower case’ in your signage can make all the difference. In deciding, you should look to time-tested psychological truths.
On Lower Case
Humans are hard-wired to recognize shapes, pictures, faces, and words. Lower case words are a combination of shapes that humans are already fully aware of. If you use one in your design, your audience would be able to instantly see and understand your design intuitively. People will be able to recognize your signage even without the need to consciously stop and read it.
This is why directional road signs are now mostly in lower case.
Signage with a lower case design is perfect for post ads. They work well if they’re placed in ads located at drive-by sites like roadside verges, forecourts, forefronts, escalators, malls, airports, and corridors. These are places where quick recognition is of prime importance so signages with fonts in the lower case would work well.
On Upper Case
Upper case fonts have their own advantages as well. They’re best suited for instructive signs and warning signs. Its use can easily convey a sense of authority. It should be carefully used though as the style can seem like it’s shouting at you.
Serif and sans serif
The little flick or elaboration onto a letter that creates a distinct design is called a serif. Serif tails are effective in guiding readers’ eyes to flow onto the next word with ease.
Serif fonts are older than their cooler and more modern sans serif counterparts. As they are older, they also tend to feel old fashioned. These days, people have been using sans serif fonts (sans serif is French for “without serifs”) more frequently because they are easier to read when using technological devices. But given that screens are improving more and more, it won’t be long until serifs do a comeback.
To efficiently use both, you could use a sans serif font for your headers and a serif font for your body.
Visibility and use of space
Did you know that car plates have a 79mm text size to aid in long range visibility? Such a principle is also duly applied by designers in producing poster designs and signages.
Visibility and spacing play a large role in the readability and feel of a design. If your letters are tightly spaced, people will have a hard time reading them. Professionally designed signages always use the right amount of space around a text. If you have no idea when it comes to design, people from Signarama signage can easily help you. You can visit anytime for a free consultation and their in-house graphic designers can come up with signage and logo designs for you.
Say more with less
You should not flood your audience with numerous fonts in one message. Use a maximum of only three fonts in your design. It’s best if you’d use only one or two. Anything beyond three will overwhelm and confuse your readers.
Consistency is everything
Once you’ve chosen a font, you should stick with it at all costs. You should use it across all your materials across all platforms. The more consistent your font choice and design is, the more strong and powerful your marketing power and branding will be.
Top 10 Fonts to Use for Your Signage
If you’re new in the field and you have yet to explore the wonderful world of fonts, do check out our countdown of the top 10 best fonts to use for signages. All ten of them have a classic and timeless design that does not go out of style. All are easily legible and flexible enough to meld properly with branding and marketing materials.
10. Helvetica Neue
Helvetica is pretty common because it gets the job done. It was first released in 1957 and was re-released in 1983. Brands like Lufthansa Airlines, Jeep, Panasonic, Toyota, Target, 3M, and Microsoft use it.
9. Futura
Futura is a timeless font that was made in 1927. Brands like Google, Nike, HP, Crayola, and Volkswagen still use it to this day.
