The importance of choosing colours and fonts that match your brand

Like any part of your brand, you cannot afford to choose your fonts or colours on a whim. You will likely end up regretting your decision and want to change your choices later.

Consistency is a crucial part of any brand. It shows your audience that you can be trusted and relied upon. Having to make significant changes to your brand regularly can send out the wrong message to your audience.

How do you choose a font?

Many designers have likened choosing a font to choosing the right outfit. You wouldn’t want to show up at an important business meeting in jeans and trainers and you wouldn’t wear a suit and tie to the beach. You have to consider what is appropriate and what gives the right impression.

Think about some keywords that define your brand. Are you traditional or modern? Elegant or bold? Your fonts need to represent your brand and stay consistent with your message. Every font has its own mood whether its serious, casual, playful or striking. You need to understand what a font is saying to you and whether that aligns with your business message.

The Baskerville Experiment

Errol Morris conducted the Baskerville Experiment in 2013. He was fascinated by the idea that typeface could affect our perception of truth. While writing for the New York Times, he surveyed readers asked them if a quoted part of his article was true or false. He segmented the readers into six sections broken up by the font that they were shown the quote in (Baskerville, Computer Modern, Helvetica, Comic Sans, Georgia, Trebuchet).

45,000 people responded to the survey, and Morris found overwhelmingly that the font Baskerville had a positive effect on the readers, making them more likely to believe the statement over the other five fonts.

Fonts can be instrumental in ensuring that your audience perceives you in the right way. They have a subconscious effect on your audience, making a tangible difference to how you are seen.

Colour Psychology

To pick the right colour for your brand you must understand how other people perceive colours.

Red

Positive – warmth, love, energy, strength, passion

Negative – anger, aggression, defiance

Orange

Positive – fun, security, happiness, warmth

Negative – frivolity, immaturity

Yellow

Positive – optimism, emotional strength, friendliness, confidence, creativity

Negative – hunger, fear, frustration, irrationality

Green

Positive – balance, health, calm, peace, harmony

Negative – envy, blandness, stagnation

Blue

Positive – trust, intelligence, logic, cool, calm, reflection, efficiency

Negative – cold, aloof, unfriendly

Purple

Positive – sophistication, spirituality, authenticity

Negative – mystery, introversion

Brown

Positive – reliability, seriousness, friendliness,

Negative – conventional, sadness

White

Positive – purity, cleanliness, innocence

Negative – detachment, sterility, naivety

Grey

Positive – solidity, practicality, timelessness

Negative – lethargy, neutrality

Black

Positive – sophisticated, security, authority

Negative – oppression, coldness, doom

Colours have a powerful and unconscious effect on how we view things. Most banks and financial institutions chose the colour blue for their branding as it helps make their audience feel that they can be trusted with their money.

Companies like Barclays, Halifax, RBS, Paypal and American Express put a great deal of thought into their branding and choosing blue has helped them build strong customer relationships and lead to the success of their businesses.

Figuring out how to use fonts and colour effectively is a difficult task but one that’s made easier with experience. If you need help finding the right colours and fonts for your brand, get in touch.