With the over-saturation of media, video, and graphics we see day to day on the Internet, what can you do to really make your creative work enticing enough to get that ‘click’ from your fellow web-surfers. There are many ways to awe your audience once they’ve opened your webpage, read your words, or pressed play, but you need them to first open the door.

For me, it is the use of unique and appropriate fonts that will truly separate your body of work visually from so many others. When designing creative material for your site or video, it is important to understand that your choice in font will both communicate the ambiance and cohesion of your message, product, or web layout.

Ambiance

Forget that you’ve been inside either of these restaurants.  What does the font style communicate about the ambiance you’d find inside?

Same thing. Along with the general differences between ‘serif’ vs. ‘san serif,’ notice how the ‘serif’ Maxim and Rolling Stone differ in line style.

Given the ambiguity of these movie titles, does the font suggest the tone and style of these films anyway? Think of any horror film in your mind. Think about the ‘indie’ style of a movie like Juno. Can you picture the fonts?

Now, it’s no secret that production companies, corporations, publications, and artists spend a lot of time perfecting their logos and fonts for their media. However, I think it is worth remembering as you move forward with your own videos, web pages, and campaigns. The right font can create the exact ambiance you want your audience to associate with your message.

Cohesion

Font is also crucial in tying together your message as a whole. If you haphazardly pick and choose fonts throughout your project, you may end up with a message that does not resonate with your audience from beginning to end.  Double-check that your website doesn’t have too many competing styles throughout. Make sure the end credits of your film have some sort of connection to the opening title sequence.  Don’t over-saturate your advertisements with fonts that don’t seem to belong together or are too similar. Check out these incredible examples of font cohesion on websites:

http://www.fatumsurfboards.com

http://carsonified.com

http://philippeandpierre.cloudkid.com

http://www.englishworkshop.eu

http://www.designbombs.com

http://designcharts.com

Obviously, the choice of font is just the beginning, tying things together through your use of scale, proportion, color, and word emphasis is part of the design text work as well.  But starting with a font that evokes your brand and message on its own is key to elevating your graphic design as a whole.