It’s not just that it’s impossible to conceive of design without typography; it’s that it’s impossible to conceive of the world as we know it without typography. Typography is the idealization of writing, and without writing—without that powerful urge to record our thoughts, ideas, memories, aspirations, or the simple yet necessary accounting of household economics—the world would be an even more inhospitable place.
Typography literally changed the world starting with the invention by the Mainz goldsmith in the 15th century, because it made knowledge accessible to millions of people by lowering the cost of printed books with his movable type printing press.
Since then, printed letters have been the vehicle of culture and civilization.
Typography as a tool
Currently, we are living through a digital revolution, as profound as the one initiated by Johannes Gutenberg five centuries ago, and just as then, typography plays an essential role. Digital technology has transformed even the very concept of a letter as a static visual object. Creativity and technology go hand in hand, and thus, the creative possibilities that digital technology offers to typographic development seem limitless.
Eksell Sans. Letters from Sweeden.
All of this naturally has a direct impact on design. In just a few decades, the changes have been so profound that the way young designers work today has little to do with the way it was done not so long ago.
Tools have changed, and therefore the way design projects are approached, but the essence, the nature of the profession, remains faithful to certain principles, one of which, perhaps the most important, is that typography is the backbone of graphic design.
Let’s focus on one of the most complex and fascinating areas of graphic design: branding, the construction of brands, and its relationship with typography.
Eksell Sans. Letters from Sweeden.
Brands are not created, they are built
To anyone familiar with the world of branding, it quickly becomes evident that a brand is much, much more than what is commonly known as a logo. A logo is just the tip of the iceberg, as branding is a multifaceted and elusive discipline. So much so that one of the most popular definitions states that branding is everything about a brand. While true, this is also akin to saying nothing.
Without delving deeper into theoretical intricacies, what is clear is that in any branding project, typographic decisions are crucial; so much so that a poor typographic choice can ruin the entire project. This is not surprising, as typography serves as the voice of the brand.
Fk-grotesk. Květoslav Bartoš
A brand is composed of visual elements that translate into emotions in the audience. Nowadays, brands appeal to the most emotional part, and typography plays a crucial role in this. Even if ignored entirely, typography has denotative and connotative values. That is, typography conveys information and emotion. Different typographic styles are associated with a series of more or less objective formal characteristics; this is its denotative level. But they also appeal to expressive emotions that are not as immediate and can significantly surface when they become part of a brand’s visual system.
Typography: the voice of the brand
Therefore, a well-constructed brand is composed of visual elements and emotions that are closely interconnected. The typography chosen as the brand’s voice provokes an emotional response in the audience, which in turn shapes their perception of the brand. This makes it clear that brand building is a complex, dynamic process that never truly ends but is constantly renewed to stay true to certain principles and values.
Rader. Valerio Monopoli.
Design is a concept, but that concept needs to be supported by a series of visual elements that make it understandable to the audience. If we seek an analogy to explain this, perhaps the one that best fits the idea we aim to convey is the precision of a Swiss watch mechanism, where everything is in its exact place and works in unison for the same purpose. A Swiss watch always tells the exact time but, above all, conveys values and principles that appeal both to reason and emotion.
Rader. Valerio Monopoli.
In close relation to this, in recent years, the practice of brands equipping themselves with custom-designed typefaces has been spreading in the branding universe.
Custom typefaces
A brand having its own custom-designed corporate typeface adds tons of brand value because, as we have been saying, typography is one of the key pieces to defining the communication line and delivering the brand message clearly and effectively. Fortunately, brands have discovered that equipping themselves with their own typeface is a strategic investment to differentiate themselves in an extremely competitive market.
Loxa. Buenaventura + Ana Moliz
Working on typography parallel to brand design, starting from the same concepts, can lead to surprising and vibrant results in building a solid, coherent, and truly impactful brand.
However, despite this wonderful explosion of custom types, we must not lose sight of the importance of having a good eye for selecting typography.
Mr.Boho. Buenaventura + Laura Meseguer
Choosing typography
Choosing the right typography to elevate the design project is an art that is learned over time; the eye is trained by analyzing countless typefaces. Patience is needed, and learning to look. Currently, typographic design is experiencing a golden age. There are great typographic designers and digital foundries doing outstanding work in many cases. There is a lot of great work to choose from, and this abundance makes the task of choosing typography fascinating and very complex.
At Buenaventura, we know that each project is different and, therefore, requires different approaches. However, when it comes to choosing typography, there are certain dynamics or processes that we can consider common to any branding project.
Platform. Berton Hasebe, Ilya Ruderman.
Firstly, we should never forget that the needs of the project at hand are above our personal tastes. A good designer knows how to detect the project’s needs and also what not to do: choosing several typefaces unnecessarily will almost certainly cause unwanted and annoying visual noise, as if the visual elements were clashing out of place.
Opting for a single typeface that optimally responds to the project’s needs is more than enough. Or, at most, two, one for headlines and another for text, but that maintain an optimal contrast relationship and enrich each other. Let’s not forget that there are extensive type families capable of covering all the needs of any design project.
It’s very important to ensure that the typeface we choose has all the characters we will need, that is, all the symbols commonly used in a specific field, like mathematical characters or economic symbols if we are designing the brand for a financial entity.
Platform. Berton Hasebe, Ilya Ruderman. / GT Super. Grillitype.
After evaluating that the typeface we want has the necessary elements for our project, we must ensure that it is optimal for viewing on all formats and devices where the brand will be developed. Today, brands interact with their audience through a variety of platforms and formats. We must consider that some typefaces may not display correctly on all devices, so we need to ensure the typeface is suitable, for example, for reading from mobile phones.
The issue of readability is closely related to what we have just pointed out. Let’s remember that readability is, ultimately, a convention and a matter of habit, so we will opt for typefaces that provide the text with the quality of being understood in the most suitable way according to its nature and that work well at different sizes and screen resolutions. Regarding this, it’s also essential to keep in mind the audience the brand is targeting because choosing a typeface for a youthful audience is very different from choosing one for a predominantly senior audience. Between the two sectors lie substantial cultural and physical differences, as with age, vision deteriorates, and it becomes harder to read at certain font sizes, if not completely impossible.
Spoof. Polytype.
As we can see, the relationship between typography and branding is close and deep, and globally, all the decisions we make will impact the final result. Learning is a matter of time and dedication. At Buenaventura, we know that there are no secrets or magic formulas, except to extract all possible learning from each project, read a lot, accumulate valuable references to draw inspiration from, and under no circumstances lose curiosity, all of which should be among the main occupations of any graphic designer.
Ana Moliz
Art Director. Buenaventura.
