5 Minute Primer: How to Pick Font for Your Small Business, and Why You Should Even Care

Ever notice that large, successful companies always uses the same font on everything? How boring! Could it be that theyre lazy or is there something more too it? No, its not laziness, theres something a lot more at work here: its brand consistency.
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\r\nIn addition to your company logo identity, choosing a company font/typeface will help to build a consistent, credible business brand. So what exactly is a company typeface or font? For this article, a company font or typeface is the official, specifically selected font that everyone in the company uses on ALL of their marketing and collateral materials, as well as internal documents.
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\r\nMost businesses dont give a company font even a thought, how about yours? Fewer than 9% of companies even have a consistent font that is used on all of their collateral materials. Typically a business owner and her/his staff use an unorganized, random assortment of fonts depending on the day and whos typing: Times, Arial, Helvetica, and perhaps Comic Sans for the more young at heart. Theres a wealth of fonts to choose from, but youll soon discover that variety isnt the spice of life when it comes to a company font.
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\r\nFonts have personalities, and just like your companys graphics and logo, they have to support your message. Some fonts look serious, some playful, some formal and some are just downright silly. Whats important is that your company font must always match your companys image and personality. When used in conjunction with a strong business brand logo, choosing a company font will reinforce your companys personality and image.
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\r\nI love the idea of allow everyone to use their own font, heck; businesses could let everyone on staff choose whatever font they wanted to use! But this poses a challenging problem: theres no standardization and no consistency, and that leads to sending a mixed message to your clients something smart business owners avoid.
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\r\nCould you imagine, a formal, prestigious law firm thats using a font that has little hearts as punctuation, how about an ice cream store using a sterile, rigid font for all of their correspondence? I know, these examples are ridiculous, but dont be fooled they happen. As a business owner you want to make sure you are sending a clear, consistent image and message to your customers, and part of that includes selecting and implementing a company font.
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\r\nIf youve never chosen a company font, have I captured your interest? Read on for a 5-minute primer on what you need to consider in choosing the right font for your company. \r\n

What to Consider When Choosing a Company Font

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• Make sure that its legible: large and small sizes, faxed, and color & B/W.
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• Make sure you have the rights to the font and that you can easily install it on all of your office computers.
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• Test, test and then test again. Avoid what most business owners do and only ask friends and family. Always remember to put your customers first; they are the ones buying from you, so ask them what they think. Your brother-in-law might think youve made a wonderful choice, but if your customers hate it youre in trouble.
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• If your customers are older people or seniors, you need to pay even closer attention to readability. Make sure you test all of your font sizes on your customers so you can identify the smallest point size you should use and still be easily readable.
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Whats At Stake If You Pick the Wrong Font?

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• Irritate and frustrate customers if they have trouble reading your content
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• Theres a fair chance that if customers cant read your content, theyll become disinterested and go somewhere else.
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• Changing fonts on a regular basis confuses your customers and makes you lose consistency, credibility and makes your company look amateurish.
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• Deciding down the road that youve selected the wrong font will cost you plenty of time and money in replacing collateral materials, updating web sites and introducing staff and customers to the new font.
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• Business owners typically stick with the default fonts in Microsofts Office Suite: Times and Arial. And while settling on either of these fonts isnt a horrible mistake, keep in mind that most businesses out there settle on them too, so there wont be much difference between you and them. If youre reading this article, youre probably a savvy business owner, and youre looking for every advantage you can get so dont go with the status quo.
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The Bottom Line for Sharp Business Owners:
\r\nHopefully youve seen theres a lot more too this and theres a lot more at stake. Sure, its not like securing your first business loan, but its still important because your image is important. Sending a clear, consistent message to your customers is critical, and not just sometimes, but all of the time. If design and marketing isnt your forte, work with a marketing/design professional to help you select the right company font for you. She/he will be able to work with you on finding a font that will appeal to you and attract your ideal customers.
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\r\nRemember that inconsistency can make you lose credibility with your customers, and that can dramatically affect your bottom line and sales. Invest a little more time as youre establishing your business image, consider a company font just pick it and stick with it.

A business savvy graphic designer is often a contradiction in terms; however, Jeremy is a unique combination of sharp business marketer and creative designer. This one-two punch provides clients with targeted marketing, advertising and design projects that yield outstanding results and a terrific return on their investment; they actually work. Companies looking to feel more confident and credible with their business brand, tired of getting lost in a crowd of competitors and always feeling like they have to compete on price, need to call Jeremy at 480.391.0704.

If you are looking for more free insight and inspiration, youll want to get in on the Can-Do Confidence Builder. Emailed weekly, the Confidence Builder provides you with essential marketing and design insights that help you get the most out of your investment and help you to stay one step ahead of the competition. Email Jeremy at comments@candographics.com and asked to be added to our list or visit http://www.candographics.com.

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