3️⃣How to pick typefaces
Last updated
Last updated
Choosing the right typeface is important for your product's design. You need to consider your product's personality, values, and audience. Learn how to pick the right typeface in this module.
While choosing a typeface, based on your requirement you can choose between native and custom fonts.
Native fonts offer faster loading times, are designed for different screen resolutions, support dynamic type scaling, provide automatic line heights, and support multiple languages. On the other hand, custom fonts ensure brand presence and consistency across all platforms.
…need to be performant across devices and optimised for scale
Apps like WhatsApp, Messages, Telegram, some social media apps, Notion, Slack, Rapido uses system fonts
…need a balance of brand, style and performance.
Apps like Uber, Spotify, Nike, Headspace, etc. are known to use custom fonts
To select the right custom typefaces for your product, delve into the product’s core attributes and personality. This involves:
Determine if the product is playful, serious, luxurious, approachable, innovative, or traditional. Choose typefaces that align with this personality. You could use serif fonts for tradition and sans-serif for modernity. If your product wants to come off as friendly, a script/handwritten font will work well.
Apps like Duolingo use playful typefaces because they come off as a friendly educational app. On the other hand, apps like Any Distance use bold & strong typefaces since they want to come off as a bold fitness app.
Understand the product’s values. Opt for typefaces that resonate with these values; for instance, clean and minimalistic fonts for simplicity.
Apps like Zara use luxury typefaces because they market themselves as a luxury product. On the other hand, apps like Calm uses modern typefaces since they market themselves as a mental wellness product.
Identify the intended audience. Different demographics respond to various typeface styles. Use bold and modern typefaces for youth-oriented products, and classic and elegant fonts for mature audiences.
Apps like Duolingo Math use playful typefaces because they are mostly targeted for the kids. On the other hand, The Wall Street Journal, which has a wide readership across ages, uses classic typefaces.
For a strong personality, consider exploring stylised typefaces for headings. Typography will form a significant part of the product.
Apps like The New Yorker, Duolingo, etc. contain stylised typefaces for headings
When selecting a typeface, it is important to ensure its versatility. Check for the following things:
Make sure the details of individual characters are legible. It should be easily readable and comprehensible.
See the similarities between the uppercase “I” (I for Iceland), lowercase “l” (l for log), and numeral “1” characters or uppercase “O”, lowercase “o”, and numeral “0” characters.
The typeface should have a range of weights and styles, such as regular, italic, and bold.
Typefaces with multiple weights and styles can be useful in most scenarios.
For more control and flexibility, look for fonts that have multiple weights (not just regular, medium, bold) and styles beyond italics.
Language support becomes essential when a brand operates globally or aims to target international markets.
If your brand is global, ensure that your typeface includes non-Latin characters that you might need.
If your product has long body text, alternate glyphs can improve readability. It is also a good idea to use stylistic ligatures and glyphs in titles.
If your product is information-dense, multiple widths will provide a wide range of options to pack information while maintaining the design aesthetic.
If your product relies heavily on titles, picking a typeface with optical sizes will help elevate your designs.
