It took mankind 1,450 years to invent the printing press. Five hundred years after that, we went fully digital, with a million fonts at our fingertips. But have we actually made progress? Gutenberg revolutionized communication and education with a single typeface, just one. Textura.
In modern branding, typography is not an afterthought. It’s both a skill and a talent. In a traditional art school, it’s one of the highest bars a design student has to clear. Entire semesters are dedicated to it, and careers are built on it. Yet most people think choosing a font is a five-minute decision. Trust me, it isn’t.
Welcome back to BRAND:NEW. I’m Donovan. Let’s talk about typography.
Our first question: do fonts really make a difference?
Yes, yes, they do. They can, used correctly, make all the difference. Someone once said, “Your choice of typeface is the clothing your words wear. Before a customer even starts reading, your font choice already told them how to feel.
A bold geometric typeface says modern, tech-savvy. Elegant serifs signal tradition and trust. Rounded sans serifs feel approachable, friendly. Good typography is felt before it’s noticed. Bad typography is like a finger in your eye. You can’t ignore it.
David Ogilvy, the father of advertising and someone we’ve quoted on this show before, built an entire industry with just 68 typefaces, neatly packaged in the now-famous Letraset catalog. His philosophy was simple. If it doesn’t sell, it isn’t creative.
Today we have a million fonts. You need to use two, maybe three. Every brand needs a specific, locked-down set of typographic rules. And if anyone in your organization ever opens a font drop-down menu and says, “Ooh, this one looks like fun,” fire them on the spot. If it’s not in your brand manual, it’s not your brand.
The next question, or rather, mistake, is one I see all the time, and it’s infuriating, to say the least. Why can’t I use my logo font for everything?
I cannot shout this loud enough. Never use your logo font. Your logo and its font are sacrosanct. That font is your visual signature, the hero of your entire brand. Start using it for headlines, subheads, and emails, and you dilute your most valuable brand asset into wallpaper. Keep the logo font sacred. Build everything else around it with complementary, supporting typefaces. Break this rule, and you undo all the gravitas your logo was carrying.
So, how many fonts should your brand actually use?
I could write an entire second book called How to Ruin a Good Brand with a Bad Font. Chapter one would say “too many fonts” and “all caps with an exclamation mark.” I’ve audited brands using six, seven, or eight different fonts on a single website. I’ve sat with a company where ten people gave me twelve different answers to the question, “What’s your brand font?”
Start with one strong hero font. Add one, maybe two, supporting fonts at most. Past that, everything starts to feel cluttered, inconsistent, unprofessional. Kind of like a ransom note cut from magazine pages. Don’t think of it as limiting; think of it as disciplined.
One more very important question, the one that answers itself the moment you say it out loud. Why can’t I use Comic Sans?
Comic Sans wasn’t born evil. It was designed in ’94 for speech bubbles in a piece of Microsoft software. It had a job, and it did that job just fine. But then it escaped that speech bubble, and it never went back. Much like the Ebola virus. Once a font becomes unserious, it cannot be made serious again. No amount of good content, premium paper, or expensive print finish can save a document set in Comic Sans.
This isn’t design snobbery; it’s a fundamental truth about how visual communication works. Comic Sans carries decades of accumulated context. Amateur newsletters, garage sale signs, unfortunate birthday invitations. You cannot separate the font from its reputation at this point. Don’t ever use it. Your brand deserves better.
Before we wrap, a quick one. There’s some exciting news coming soon about the book this podcast is based on, The Business Owner’s Guide to Branding. So keep an eye out for an update.
Next episode, we look at why you should be using the exact same font family everywhere.
That’s it for this episode of BRAND:NEW. Thank you for spending a few minutes with me. I don’t take your time for granted. If this helped you, share it with a business owner who needs it. And if you’ve got 10 seconds, please leave a rating. It would really mean the world to me.
I’m Donovan. This has been BRAND:NEW.
Do FONTS REALLY MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN YOUR BRAND?
It took mankind 1,450 years to invent the printing press, and roughly 500 years after that, we went fully digital, with a million fonts at our fingertips. I still ask myself whether we have actually made progress, because Gutenberg revolutionized communication and education with a single typeface. Just one. It was called Textura.
In modern branding, typography is not an afterthought. It is both a skill and a talent, and in a traditional art school it is one of the highest bars a design student has to clear. Entire semesters get dedicated to it, and whole careers are built on it, yet most people still think choosing a font is a five-minute decision. I promise you it isn’t.
Gutenberg revolutionized communication and education with a single typeface, just one.
DO FONTS REALLY MAKE A DIFFERENCE?
Yes, they do. Used correctly, a font can make all the difference in how your brand is perceived. Someone once said your choice of typeface is the clothing your words wear, and I think about that often. Before a customer even starts reading, your font choice has already told them how to feel about you.
A bold geometric typeface says modern and tech savvy. Elegant serifs signal tradition and trust. Rounded sans serifs feel approachable and friendly. Good typography is felt before it is noticed, while bad typography is like a finger in your eye that you simply cannot ignore.
David Ogilvy, the father of advertising and someone I have quoted on this show before, built an entire industry with just 68 typefaces, neatly packaged in the now-famous Mouss Letraset catalog. His philosophy was simple. If it doesn’t sell, it isn’t creative.
Today we have access to a million fonts, and you need to use two, maybe three of them. Every brand needs a specific, locked down set of typographic rules, and if anyone in your organization opens a font dropdown menu and gets tempted by something new and unapproved, that is a sign your typographic discipline needs tightening. If it is not in your brand manual, it is not your brand.
Your choice of typeface is the clothing your words wear.
Why You Should Never Use Your Logo Font for Everything
This is a mistake I see all the time, and it frustrates me every time it happens. I cannot shout this loud enough. Never use your logo font for anything else.
Your logo and its font are sacrosanct. That font is your visual signature, the hero of your entire brand. The moment you start using it for headlines, subheads, emails, and everything else, you dilute your most valuable brand asset down to wallpaper.
Keep the logo font sacred, and build everything else around it with complementary, supporting typefaces. Break this rule, and you undo all the gravitas you carry.
Your logo and its font are sacrosanct. That font is your visual signature, the hero of your entire brand.
How Many Fonts Should Your Brand Actually Use?
I could write an entire second book called How to Ruin a Good Brand with a Bad Font, and chapter one would be titled “Too Many Fonts.”
I have audited brands using six, seven, even eight different fonts on a single website. I once sat with a company where ten people gave me twelve different answers to the question, what’s your brand font. My advice is always the same. Start with one strong hero font, then add one, maybe two, supporting fonts at most.
Past that point, everything starts to feel cluttered, inconsistent, and unprofessional, a bit like a ransom note cut from magazine pages. I don’t think of this as limiting. I think of it as disciplined.
Start with one strong hero font, then add one, maybe two, supporting fonts at most.
WHY YOU CAN’T USE COMIC SANS?
This last question tends to answer itself the moment you say it out loud.
Comic Sans wasn’t born evil. It was designed in 1994 for speech bubbles in a piece of Microsoft software, and it did that job just fine. The problem is that it escaped that speech bubble and never went back. Once a font becomes unserious, it cannot be made serious again, no matter how good the content, how premium the paper, or how expensive the print finish behind it.
This isn’t design snobbery. It is a fundamental truth about how visual communication works. Comic Sans carries decades of accumulated context from amateur newsletters, garage sale signs, and unfortunate birthday invitations, and you cannot separate a font from its reputation at this point. Your brand deserves better than that.
Once a font becomes unserious, it cannot be made serious again
The audio version of this episode, along with the full transcript, is available on this post.
COMPLETE THE FORM TO
BOOK A STRATEGY CALL
"*" indicates required fields
COMPLETE THE FORM TO
BOOK A STRATEGY CALL
"*" indicates required fields
Subscribe and Share – WE APPRECIATE YOUR SUPPORT
