You've Got to be Kitten Me: The Logic of Fonts

As I absentmindedly perused my social media feed (a typical Sund... every day (who am I kidding?) routine), I came across the cutest post entitled "Cats as Fonts." As if this post were after my very heartstrings, I scrolled through the adorable pictures of kittens dressed ridiculously to embody the attitude around common types or fonts. For the average person, fonts are only knowingly interacted with through a Microsoft Office product lens. Academic papers and reports are written in Times New Roman. Sensible emails are sent in Arial or Tahoma. All Microsoft Office applications default to Calibri. And that seems to be okay, as the average person is more focused on their message--what it is they want to convey--than how that message is presented. But unknowingly, we directly encounter fonts everywhere, in ways we'd never imagine.

Since the 1940s, the significance of font has been debated and engendered for the purpose of advertising. An obsession formed around how the look of a thing could influence people, and make them say… want to buy a product. As time marched ahead, in the interest of technology and progress, consumerism became less about selling a single product and more about selling an idea. Brand recognition and product loyalty are what companies are after today, and they are using visual imagery to draw us in. Advertisers are also thinking about what fonts to use.

Gary Hustwit created a two hour documentary about the history, future, and nuances of the font he termed “ubiquitous,” Helvetica. The personification assigned to these fonts is interesting in the sense that--behind certain closed doors--a power to express attitudes through fonts that the unconscionable reader does not recognize is being manipulated. If fonts are the nonverbal communication of written text, just what are they saying?

Ted Hunt, in an article posted on The Daily Egg, talks about the psychology behind choosing typeface in order to solicit a certain emotional or psychological reaction from an audience. He says in his article,

“You should take careful consideration when choosing a logo font. As you may already know, people have certain feelings, emotions, and associations when they see certain colors. What you may not realize is that they have a similar response to typefaces and fonts.”

The article then goes on to explain the perceptions of several of the more successful font styles in advertising (seen below);

Ted Hunt in "A Pro Designer Shares the Psychology of Font Choices"

It is interesting to see how something so easily taken for granted by one group of people is a highly prioritized consideration for another group of people. Remember that the next time you’re writing a persuasive argument for a class or when you’re constructing an email to ask your boss for a raise. It’s not just the content of your message that might help sell your point. Oh yeah, about those cats...