In a study on brand personality, Stanford professor and psychologist Jennifer Aaker found that five characteristics play a role in a brand’s personality.
While brands can occasionally combine traits, for the most part, their “personality” is focused on one. For example, a company that sells athletic equipment would identify with “ruggedness,” while a fashion brand might aim for “sophistication.”
Establishing your brand personality guides all other branding decisions.
Color wields enormous sway over our attitudes and emotions. When our eyes take in a color, they communicate with a region of the brain known as the hypothalamus, which in turn sends a cascade of signals to the pituitary gland, on to the endocrine system, and then to the thyroid glands. The thyroid glands signal the release of hormones, which cause fluctuation in mood, emotion, and resulting behavior.
A famous study conducted by neuroscientist, Antonio Damasio, presented scientific proof that emotions impact our brain and directly influence our decision-making process. adjusting color, among other elements, can increase conversion by as much as 24%.
So, the bottom line is: use the right colors, and you win.
Blue is the favorite or 57% of men and 35% of women while purple is favored by 23% of women and ZERO men!
Serif fonts are the oldest font style, originating way back in the 15th century. They’re named for the feet (called serifs) seen at the top and bottom of each letter.
Because serif fonts are the original font style, we generally perceive them as classic, traditional, and trustworthy
Favored by brands that want to convey a feeling of respectability and tradition, like Tiffany & Co, Vogue, and Time Magazine.
Playfair Display
Times Roman
EB Garamond
Lora
Sans-serif fonts didn’t emerge until the 19th century, much more recently than the traditional serif fonts, so we tend to perceive them as more modern.
Sans-serif fonts are also much simpler in form than serif fonts, so they tend to evoke a sense of cleanliness and aid in giving you a minimal design.
Sans-serif fonts have taken over the web in recent years, with many of the top tech companies choosing bold sans-serif brand fonts
Helvetica
Ariel
Roboto
Source Sans Pro
Slab serifs, a special breed of serif fonts, feature larger, blockier serifs. As a result, they look a bit more rugged, bold, and quirky than traditional serif fonts.
This type of font works well for companies with a long and proven history of producing quality products who still want to appear current
Courier New
Roboto Slab
Alfa Slab One
Arvo
Script fonts are designed to imitate cursive handwriting and have character strokes that connect one letter to the next.
Just as everyone’s handwriting looks very unique, each script font feels very distinctive. They tend to follow the design trends of the day, making script fonts a risky choice for a brand font, as they might fall out of fashion too quickly.
Still, the script fonts used by brands like Ford, Johnson & Johnson, Cadillac, and Instagram have stood the test of time (so far).
Lucida Script
Pacifico
Dancing Script
Satisfy
Handwritten fonts are pretty self-explanatory…they’re fonts that look like they’ve been written out by hand.
They sometimes incorporate weird letterforms, and they’re about as different from traditional serif fonts as you can get.
They’re a fun choice if you want to present yourself as a playful, informal, approachable, or artistic brand
Permanent Marker
Patrick Hand
Amatic SC
Just Another Hand
Decorative fonts are the most diverse. They include any font that uses unique shapes, forms, or proportions for a highly stylized look.
The logos of Lego, Disney, and IBM feature distinctive decorative fonts that make their brands especially memorable
Fredericka
Fredoka One
Lobster Two
Bangers
Got a long company name? No worries, a great lettermark logo can work for you just like it did for IBM.
Similar to a lettermark, a wordmark or logotype is a font-based logo that focuses on your business name only. Wordmark logos work really well when a company has a short and distinct name. Google’s logo is a great example of this.
Mascot logos are generally colorful illustrated characters, many times cartoonish. These fun mascots can be animated and can become a great way to create your own brand spokes icon.
Popular with many pro sports teams, schools, organizations or government agencies, an emblem logo consists of a font inside a symbol or an icon. They resemble seals, badges and crests.
A Combination mark is a combination of text and images or icons that enhances your branding message and can help clarify what your business is about.
An abstract mark is a specific type of pictorial logo. It’s an abstract geometric form that represents your business. Abstract logos allow you to create something truly unique to represent your brand.
A pictorial logo is an icon or graphic that represents your brand. If your brand is established enough, your pictorial mark alone will be enough for people to recognize your business.
