Choosing the right fonts for your brand and website is more than just an aesthetic decision; it’s about finding the visual voice of your brand. The fonts you select will play a critical role in how your message is received.

This guide will help you navigate the process of selecting your primary brand fonts, including deciding how they’ll be used in your website design.

1. Understanding Text Styles

When it comes to choosing fonts for your brand, it’s helpful to understand how they’ll be used within your visual identity — also called text styles.

A text style is a “job” that’s assigned to all text that’s styled a specific way — for example, Title, Heading, Subheading, or Paragraph.

Each text style has a set of qualities, such as the font name, text size, or alignment, that stays consistent across a design. This adds hierarchy, making the information clear and easy to read.

The most common text styles are:

Title

This is the text style that’s used for page titles and large headlines, which carry significant weight and grab attention. The font you choose for your title style should embody the essence of your brand, making a strong impression right off the bat. 

Heading

This font acts as a secondary voice, highlighting subtopics or important points beneath your main titles & large headlines. While still significant, the heading style provides a visual hierarchy that supports and does not overshadow the title style. Often your heading style uses the same font as your title style, just in a smaller text size.

Subheading

While the subheading is technically lower on the hierarchy than the heading style, it is often used to add additional context to a title or headline. It can also offer another layer of organization, further breaking down information or providing more specific categorization within sections. The subheading typically uses a small text size (10-18pt) and is often used in all caps. Our favorite subheading fonts are Monserrat, Poppins, Nunito, and Oswald.

Paragraph (or Body Copy)

The workhorse of your font selection, body copy fonts are used for paragraphs, lists, and the bulk of the text on any page. This font needs to be highly legible at smaller sizes and comfortable to read over longer stretches. Our favorite body copy fonts are: Monserrat, Poppins and Nunito.

Accent Font (Optional)

Accent fonts are your chance to inject personality or highlight specific elements, such as callouts or 1-3 word statements. Though not necessary for every brand, an accent font can add a unique touch to your visual language when used sparingly.

2. Font Types Overview

When picking fonts for your brand, you’ll primarily be looking at three types:

Serif & Sans Serif

These are your go-to fonts for just about anything, from big titles to the small print. Serif fonts have little feet and give off a classic feel, while sans serif fonts are clean and modern. Both types are easy to read, which is perfect for any place you need words.

Slab Serif

These fonts have thicker lines and bigger feet. They’re bold and can make a statement, but they’re not great for lots of small text.

Scripts, Handwritten, or Display Fonts

These are extra and can add some fun to your design. But use them like a spice – a little goes a long way. They’re not for the main text because they can be hard to read.

3. Choosing your Brand Fonts

It’s no secret that there are a million fonts out there. But here’s the secret: most brands stick to a few tried-and-true fonts. Here’s what to consider as you’re choosing yours:

Easy to Read

Your fonts should be clear & legible across all devices and sizes. This is non-negotiable, as the main job of your text is to deliver a message clearly.

Free or Low Cost

There are so many free and low-cost fonts available today, there’s no need to spend a fortune on a premium font. Creative Market is our go-to spot for fonts, and you can typically get an entire font family for around $30. 

Reflects Your Style

Make sure your fonts fit your brand’s vibe. You don’t want something super modern if your style is more classic.

Flexible in Use

The best fonts come in multiple weights (light, regular, bold) and styles (italic, condensed) to allow for versatile use across your branding.

Remember, the most important consideration when choosing fonts is that they make your brand easy to recognize and your message easy to understand.

4. Where to Find Fonts

There are a lot of places to find fonts online, and some of them are more reputable than others. For premium fonts, it’s best to visit the actual font designer’s website (our faves listed below) when possible to directly support the artist.

Here are a few of our favorites:

Google Fonts

Google Fonts is the best spot to find free fonts you can use anywhere. They’re easy to read, timeless, and often pre-loaded into design apps like Canva and Showit.

Jen Wagner

Jen Wagner is our very favorite font designer. Everything Jen creates is polished, timeless, and stylish.

(Check out Editor’s Note, Ethic Serif, and Neue Swiss.)

Nicky Laatz

Nicky Laatz is another favorite font designer with awesome scripts and display fonts.

(A few we can’t live without: California Palms Script, Bon Vivant Script & Eighties Comeback.)

Creative Market

Creative Market is a marketplace for unique fonts from independent designers at very reasonable costs.

MyFonts

If you can’t find what you need on Google Fonts or Creative Market, MyFonts has a huge selection. The downside here is you can get lost in the vast amount of options.

5. Navigating Font Rights and Licenses

When you choose a font, it’s crucial to ensure you have the rights or license to use it. Using a font without a license (or with the wrong license) can result in costly litigation. (Note that the below is not legal advice, and if you have questions you should consult the font foundry directly.)

Here’s some things to keep in mind:

Buy the Right License

Some fonts need different licenses if you want to use them on your website, in a PDF, or for something else. Make sure you buy what you need. (Tip: Most shops selling fonts have a user-friendly description of licenses on their site that can help you find the right option.)

Read the License

Every font comes with an End User License Agreement (EULA) that details what you can & can’t do with the font.

Keep Your Receipts

If someone asks if you have the right to use a font, you’ll need to show your receipt and the license. Just because you have the font file doesn’t mean you can use it however you want.

TLDR; Buy the right license, stay out of trouble, and keep your brand looking good!

What’s Next?

If you’re craving more guidance, we’ve got you covered! 

Check out our course Oh Hey, New Brand, where we guide you through our step-by-step process for creating a brand that’s as unique as you are.

We’ll help you design your logo, color palette, fonts, and graphics — so you can attract customers who love what you do AND charge a premium.

So if you’re ready to dive deeper and want some extra helping hands along the way, come join us! We can’t wait to see what you’ll create.