The psychology of fonts: how fonts make you feel

Photograph of a printed book of fonts showing different styles and weights.
(Image credit: Brett Jordan)

We all know words have power – but the fonts those words are written in can have just as much. Font psychology is the study of how fonts and typefaces make us feel, and while it may not be something you’ve thought too much about before, it is a huge aspect of design and branding.

Someone might have some understandable scepticism regarding how much choosing the best fonts can really matter. After all, the meanings of words don’t change because of what the letters look like, do they? It’s not like a globally recognised brand could instantly and devastatingly alter how people perceive it, simply by changing the font of a single word, is it?

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Jon Stapley

Jon is a freelance writer and journalist who covers photography, art, technology, and the intersection of all three. When he's not scouting out news on the latest gadgets, he likes to play around with film cameras that were manufactured before he was born. To that end, he never goes anywhere without his Olympus XA2, loaded with a fresh roll of Kodak (Gold 200 is the best, since you asked). Jon is a regular contributor to Creative Bloq, and has also written for in Digital Camera World, Black + White Photography Magazine, Photomonitor, Outdoor Photography, Shortlist and probably a few others he's forgetting. 

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