Blog.
Typography is the first impression your brand makes to the world.
In 2009, IKEA tried something new and revamped all the fonts in its catalogues and store signs. Futura, their norm, a clean and geometric typeface, was removed, and Verdana, an easily readable typeface, was introduced. It was a change that fell on blind customers' eyes, but designers and insiders noticed the change instantly. The backlash from the design community turned into a PR nightmare for IKEA, a brand synonymous with its classic Scandinavian reputation.
The products were unchanged, as was the catalogue copy, but a brand famous for its thoughtful design went generic; the problem was the letters themselves.
Type Gets Read Before Words Do
A person notices a font before they register a single word; whether it pleases the eye or the brand comes off as premium, serious, playful, or inviting is almost instantaneous. The sentence is left uncomprehended because a particular itch wasn’t scratched.
So even if a luxury hotel brochure talks about marble floors, concierge service, and custom spa days, a rounded, casual typeface still feels off. The font sets a precedent for the kind of experience the customer is about to receive; it is the first impression for a reader, and with the amount of options available in the market, an unpleasing first impression is usually trusted.
When a person finishes reading a tag or headline, the typeface is the medium through which they decide how they should feel about the copy, the product, and the brand.
When the Type Contradicts the Voice
Zomato’s brand voice across every multimedia channel pushes a witty, irreverent, silly, and chaotic theme, which makes the copy feel like friendly banter. If that tone were read in a very formal serif font typically used in legal documents, the joke might never land. While it takes a lot to seem organically witty, the fact that Zomato’s copy is so memorable is in part due to its informal lettering.
A brand like LIC has built trust over decades of consistent work. A sudden switch-up to a loose, hand-drawn script could shake the brand’s core trust, even if the copy is perfectly written. The font and the message need to be aligned, or readers end up trusting whichever meets their eyes first.
Why Type Gets Deprioritised
Most brands treat typography as a one-time thing, created early in a project, then saved in brand guidelines and never revisited. Unlike brand voice or tone guidelines, which are constantly updated and seen as ever-evolving with the brand’s growth. When a brand revamps its tone of voice, the font doesn’t get the same update, even though it shapes consumer opinion every time it is seen.
This is extremely prevalent in India; many brands see their English typeface as their true identity, but their Devanagari, Tamil, or Bengali fonts are only matched by size, not style. A warm and contemporary English font can look extremely rigid and vapid in a regional script if the same attention hasn’t been given to it.
A Practical Way to Think About It
Brand typography and voice must be organically aligned; they shouldn't exist in a vacuum as a design task to be tackled. Before a new headline font is approved, ask yourself and your team the same questions you would ask during a copy review: “Does this sound like us?”
If a line is checked under the “on voice” lens, the same examination must be done for the letters portraying the message. One is an informed, calculated decision, and the other can happen in a split second.
Final Word
In every brand review meeting, people talk about words exponentially. The typeface that carries that message should get the same time, care and attention. Next time, before you spend hours discussing what to say, account for what the words are already saying.
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