​How to Select the Best Font for Your Business Logo Design

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​How to Select the Best Font for Your Business Logo Design

The font of your logo will communicate more than just the name of your company. Fonts help in communicating a sense of personality and style of a brand, directly impacting consumers’ emotions and thoughts. Like colors, fonts also convey different meanings. Bold font can stir up feelings of confidence, power, and strength, whereas a clean font is associated with a sense of tradition, simplicity, and timelessness.

Before you choose the right letterform for your logotype, it’s worth learning about different types of fonts and their rules for designing a logo design. A well-chosen font can emphasize the benefits of your brand and logo, while an inappropriate selection may undermine trust and evoke unpleasant associations.

With that being said, we have created this post to guide you through the font selection process for your business logo.

Let's jump right into it. ​

#1 Prioritize your Font's Legibility ​

When designing a logo, legibility should always be considered. There are several different elements that go into creating a clear, readable logo that will create awareness of your brand identity. There should be a balance between the text, color scheme, and design that are unique to your brand. A lot goes into play when determining the legibility of the font.

To start with, color combinations are imperative. You will find it hard to read light-colored text on a light background. Therefore, you should choose colors that create contrast but also matches well with the tone of your website.

Apart from color selection, you need to focus on the style of the text. For example, heavily scripted fonts are extremely difficult to read. There should be spaces between each text. Nevertheless, if you choose to go with a scripted font, please note that such texts need a lot of spacing around them. So, increase the space between the line height and letters. Most importantly, when using a script style, avoid using all-caps - it is a big NO.

Finally, before you move further, review the visual hierarchy to determine the space, color, size, and alignment of the logo. You can create different prototypes of a few select styles and try to get a feel of how it will look in different settings (website, letterhead, business card, email, etc.). ​

​#2 Pair Thin Fonts with Monogram or Symbol

In case if you are going with a thin text, it may not create the feel until you pair it with a monogram or a symbol. As minimal and elegant thin fonts can be, they don't usually show up in print and don't look great on social media when you scale the logo down into the profile image. This is why you should always combine the text with a symbol or a monogram. That way, when your thin font doesn't show up on specific backgrounds, you have the option to use your symbol or monogram.

Thin fonts look great on dark backgrounds and are ideal for websites and other digital assets, particularly when there is enough space for them to be large. So, you cannot take the risk. What if people don't understand your logo? Therefore, go with a monogram or any symbol that resonates with your brand. ​

#3 Detailed Logo Fonts are a Big No

Different fonts have different personalities. While this uniqueness will make your brand stand out, it will be harder to interpret and understand for people who are unfamiliar with the font. For example, when you use styles like Romantique, Leafy, Exotica that are extremely detailed, you will find it hard to place the logo on different backgrounds.

​Because you will be using the logo on different platforms like on all digital assets (websites, social media profiles, email signature, etc.), prints, etc., you will be adjusting the logo's size and dimensions for the perfect fit. So, when you use a detailed logo, it will look congested on certain platforms. Smaller assets like letterheads, profile photos, and favicons won't show off the detail in the font, causing it to lose its personality. The worst part is that using such a font will decrease the legibility of your logo.

#4 Use Different Fonts ​

No, we are not telling you to use multiple fonts to type your brand name. But use different fonts for your company name, company slogan, and other components. Slogans tell a lot about your company and brand, and you would want to communicate it with your consumers. However, never use the same text style that you use for the company name to type the slogan as well. Use a different style that complements the primary logo.

Take your time to pair different fonts with each to finalize the design. Like most logo designers, you can use the hit and trial method and pair the primary logo font with a multitude of other fonts to determine which pairs the best.

The secondary font you choose should achieve contrast, visual hierarchy, balance, readability, and interest in your branding.

The following are the most popular font pairings that many businesses use:

• Funky logo font + sans-serif
• Modern logo font + slab-serif
• Script logo font or handwritten logo font + sans-serif
• Serif logo font + sans-serif

Try to use these fonts in the mix and see how it comes out. But you are always free to research and mix-match your fonts to come up with a unique combination. A word of caution though. Old laptops tend to run on old OS which do not support updated software and fonts. So, you may not be able to explore different fonts that come with new laptops with updated operating systems. ​

#5 Don't Rely on Color ​

Many logo designs rely on color to communicate the message and brand voice, but a legible logo should be the one that is able to stand out even in its black and white version. This is where choosing the right text style comes in handy. You would want your logo to communicate your brand's personality even without color.

This design option is not only memorable but will enable you to make your logo uncluttered. When it comes to font choice, the color should be secondary. ​

Final Words ​

These are some tips to consider when choosing a font for your logo design. Every business and brand has its unique identity, and the font should match that uniqueness to deliver the brand's voice and message. ​

Guest Author Alicia Rother

Alicia Rother is a freelance content strategist who works with small businesses and startups to boost their brand reach through creative content design and write-ups. Her area of expertise include digital marketing, infographics, branding, and graphic design. For service inquiries you can connect with her here. ​