Font Psychology The Psychology Of Fonts: What You Should Learn About Fonts

 

There are over half a million fonts around the world. While most websites are constructed using well-known fonts, there's plenty of room to take a different path. Fonts can also be visual elements so you can use them to create an image that is a part of your site's efforts.

As with other elements of design fonts impact how people see the fancy text the product or the whole web page. A well-chosen font will enhance the experience of users on your site and, ultimately, your conversion rate optimization.

Basics of Typography

Typography is the art and technique of arranging type to make written language legible, readable, and appealing when it is displayed. Typography can also be described as typefaces, that comprise letters. A number of fonts are included in each typeface. They all have the same rules and belong to a distinct typeface category.

Fonts are visual elements that transmit information to the viewer. Like with every visual input the fonts can also contain an invisible message that affects how the viewer perceives fancy text regardless of the content itself.

Anatomy of Typefaces

Some typefaces can have stricter limitations on what factors you can change while staying within the family, while other types have more relaxed rules.

A typeface has a variety of distinct parts, including serif, sans-serif, ascender, baseline, caps height, descender, leading stem, letter-spacing, stroke and x-height.

Why Does Typography Matter?

Typography in the digital world is more than simply picking a pretty font. The typeface you choose for your website design will influence the user's decisions. A good typeface can create a solid visual hierarchy, compliment the visual balance and serve as the focal point of your design.

A dedicated typography strategy can be developed to target one of the following:

Create unique branding

Empower user experience

People can be influenced by their feelings

Pay Attention!

Therefore, just as the design of your site helps tell a story to the user, fonts are elements which further enhance the narrative. It's not just about what you want your users to see; it's equally about how they feel while reading your text and fonts are a great way to convey emotions that are needed to achieve the goals of your site.

Major Font Styles and Psychology

Research conducted by the British Psychological Society back in 1989 showed a link between adjectives and various fonts that were perceived by study participants. The participants were presented with a variety of fonts and asked to assess the perceptual qualities they may have, like heavy and light, quick, and slow.

Another study that broadened the range of adjectives that can be used discovered the strongest correlation between Times New Roman fonts and Helvetica fonts and the adjectives "formal", and "legible." It's also interesting observe that these fonts are at opposite ends of the typography spectrum. Times New Roman is a serif font, while Helvetica is a sans serif font.

These font styles can be included within content management systems as well as web builders. Different font styles that offer simple ways to alter fonts allow you to quickly try out various styles and decide which is the best fit for your site.