A story told through font

"Font gives us a sense of where and when, the very foundation of a brand's story."

Our cities are covered in font, every street sign, coffee shop, museum and office. It tells a story. From the iconic tightly spaced Helvetica letters of the New York Subway to the classic Johnston Sans font designed for London's public transport in 1913. With the correct font, one word can covey a world of possibility. Font gives us a sense of where and when, the very foundation of a brand's story. It's a tone of voice. As Jonathan Barnbrook, founder of the 'Virus Fonts', told the BBC "You're trying to get that tone of voice right- you can shout or whisper. And you want to sum up the spirit of the age, because they do date quite quickly."

It's all the little details of a font that tell us what kind of product we're buying or establishment we're entering. "If you were opening an office building or a condo complex and targeting a particular age group, maybe you'd go for a super modern, techy typeface that's all lowercase and would resonate with some people as being young and entrepreneurial." says Amanda Bowers, creative director at design firm PS212. 

"Or maybe you're a financial institution and you want to look more buttoned-up and stable, or corporate? These are things that typography can achieve"

A well designed font can transcend language barriers. "When you encounter a language that you don't read, your eyes are then looking at the letter forms individually to find points of reference" says Bowers.

"I don't read Arabic, for example, but you study the form itself - how bold something is, how it relates to other things on the page, the colours. All of that can bring meaning and another layer of reading that you're not even conscious of"

At SpaceSquared we design beautiful responsive websites for a variety of clients. We've found that fonts are vital to the first impression you make on your clients. Want to know more about branding and webdesign? Check out our website. We also have a Facebook page offering free hints and tips for entrepreneurs .