Why Fonts Matter

by Sarah Hyndman

We all constantly interact with type in almost every aspect of our lives. But how do fonts affect what we read and influence the choices we make?

This book opens up the science and the art behind how fonts influence you. It explains why certain fonts or styles evoke particular experiences and associations. Fonts have different personalities that can create trust, mistrust, give you confidence, make things seem easier to do or make a product taste better. They’re hidden in plain sight, they trigger memories, associations and multisensory experiences in your imagination.

* Fonts can alter the meanings of words right before your very eyes.
* See what personalities fonts have, and what they reveal about YOUR personality.
* Explore how you respond to fonts emotionally and can make fonts work for your message.
* Be amazed that a font has the power to alter the taste of your food.

This book is for anyone who is interested in giving words impact, who loves words and how they influence us.

Genres: Design, Nonfiction, Art, Art Design, Cultural, Education, Psychology

144 pages, Paperback

First published January 28, 2016

Reviews

[Kostiantyn Levin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Який цей шрифт на смак – солоний чи гіркий? А цей? З яким шрифтом ти підеш на побачення і чому? З яким потоваришуєш? Які емоції викликають різні типи шрифтів? До якого з цих шрифтів підеш по нотаріальні послуги, а до якого – по жирний бургер?

Популярна книжка про шрифтовий дизайн (з численними завданнями), яка навчає емоційній складовій сприйняття шрифтового різноманіття. Професійні дизайнери навряд чи знайдуть тут для себе щось, а для любителів/новачків – чудове видання.

[Emma Pettersen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kanskje NTNU skulle lest litt om dette før de bestemmer seg for at masteroppgavene skal leveres/skrives i Verdana???????? Yikes!

[Anthe · Rating 2 out of 5]

Teleurstelling. Amper diepgang. Te veel aandacht voor wat de auteur denkt. Helvetica wordt niet aanbeden.

[Keen Reader · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 Stars!

I really enjoy little books like this. Hyndman takes a colourful and quirky approach to the fascinating world of fonts, as well as teaching us all about rounded terminals, oblique crossbars and x-heights we get to see the softer and more fun side to fonts. For those eager beavers out there, there are a number of fun and not so fun challenges, quizzes, surveys and recipes along the way.

We learn that Blackletter, was the first printed type created in Germany back in the 1450s. It was adopted as it apparently closely resembled the hand writing of monks and scribes. It was held in high esteem until it was hijacked by Hitler and the Nazis and it never quite recovered. She also explores the beauty and origins of other well-known fonts, the likes of Gill Sans, as seen in the BBC font. Eric Gill was a student of Edward Johnston who created Johnston as seen in the London underground, which many claim to be the unofficial font of London. We also find out that apparently, around three quarters of the world’s airports use only one of three fonts, Clearview, Frutiger and Helvetica.

There are many surveys in here, which include, What shoes would a typeface be? The list of jobs certain fonts would do?. And by the time we got to the “Type Dating Game: which font is your dating type?” and a page dedicated to a “personality analysis given out for each typeface” I was starting to feel like someone was jokingly reading out my stars from a crappy tabloid magazine, as we sat in a waiting room.

Hyndman is a graphic designer, and a lot of thought and time has gone into the layout and it shows, but the overall format is flawed. It starts off with great promise making some fine insights and then as she drags in one survey after another it really starts to lose its focus and shape and at one point we get six straight pages which could have been lifted from a girlie teen magazine. Then at least another six pages for font recipes?...Many of the aspects of fonts becomes laboured.

There is a lot of interesting research and findings in here, but there is also a lot of filler, ultimately this book tries to wear too many hats, it wants to be quirky, educational and fun, but it doesn’t pull it off and instead it becomes confusing and inconsistent, wanting to be a little bit of everything and instead it becomes all of nothing. If you are looking for a more grounded, consistent and informative insight, I would highly recommend Simon Garfield’s exceptional “Just My Type”, which remains my favourite on the subject.

[Vanya Prodanova · Rating 5 out of 5]

Не очаквах това, което прочетох, но приятно различно и интересно. Сега ми се приядоха куп шрифтове. :Р

Книгата разглежда шрифтовете от гледна точка на нас като консуматори на текст. Дори и да не го осъзнаваме, общуваме с шрифтове съзнателно и несъзнателно всяка секунда. Книгата е пълна с най-различни мини тестове, резултати от тези тестове и доста психология на шрифтовете. Наистина интересна книга, дори и за хора, които не се вълнуват от шрифтове, но биха искали да видят как им влияят и как (естествено) компаниите ги използват, за да ни карат да харчим повече пари. :)

[Amy Rhoda Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read a lot of books about fonts, but most of them don't spend a lot of time discussing why particular fonts evoke particular feelings or responses. This book fills that gap. With lots of research-based information about the hows and whys of readability, emotional response, and design, this book is a useful addition to any designer or typographer's bookshelf.

[Lsra · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolute must-read for anyone with an interest in graphic design

[Hannah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Quick and easy read! I really enjoyed how the author explored the history behind the typeface we are now so familiar with. The guides on lines and endings and their perception was pretty useful so that was cool. Found her own research kind of weak though - didn’t find the online and audience surveys to be that legit. However, I feel like it was a good starting off point to research more into the psychology of type.

[Tom Kubina · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book tries to explore how fonts are perceived and which emotion, profession or music will particular font evoke. I liked the idea and enjoyed the practical parts of the book where you can compare e.g. different business cards for lawyer done with different types. So the book could work as a subjective discussion between you and the author. BUT the author supports these subjective opinions with research, with really bad research. E.g. it proves that font will help you increase your exam rates if you pick proper font but the research was done by 1 student on his 50 thesis, ouch. Or it takes graphology as a prove but recent psychology research proved that there is no correlation between your handwriting (or font) and your personality. The book is full with these "truths" which is the reason why I don't recommend it.

[Kat V · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok I did like the book but after a while it just became too repetitive. 3.4 stars

[Satrina T · Rating 3 out of 5]

The personality of the typeface sets the tone for what you're about to read in the same way that your first impressions of how a person looks influences how you will listen and respond to them.

Some fonts may be best used in the privacy of your own home.

Back in college, my favorite subjects were the ones having to do with typefaces and their history and even if this book doesn't delve much on history, I liked it. This book focuses on the perception, or the feelings evoked by fonts and the way fonts can blend in or stand out completely.

Favorite part: While I liked the whole book, I particularly enjoyed chapter 5 talking about the response and the associations fonts elicit.
Least favorite part: I didn't like going back and forth between a quiz and the answers, to me it was a little distracting. On second place, I found it a little bit repetitive when we see the results of some surveys and read repeatedly that people found a typeface elegant or classic (I think in these cases, a summary would have been better)

Sidenote: I went on a nostalgia trip when Hyndman mentioned "maluma" and "takete" and made me remember that project I worked on more than two decades ago.

Second sidenote: "palette cleansing" instead of "palate cleansing" is one of my pet peeves

Final sidenote: I can't get over the fact that Helvetica is deemed basic, bland, boring, and cheap, can’t you see its beauty?

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Why Fonts Matter provided lots of interesting information on what we feel as it relates to typefaces. Some are thought to be intelligent (serif), some just plain silly (comic sans), but why do we feel what we feel? Some answers can be found here.

This is a thought provoking read that fascinates with lots of data to support the claims made. I would have liked a deeper dive, though. I can get in line with the idea of what type sounds like, maybe even how our taste perception can be altered by the type we see but smell is going a bit too far out there for me.

[Ciro · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very well put together book with extremely relevant and clear examples of how font impacts the way we feel, think, and approach everything from clothes to food to email correspondence. Very relevant is the importance of font in marketing and how much the font can be tied exclusively to a certain brand. Will also make you reconsider the font you use when sending emails. No joke.

[Yiting · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting to read and explores the interaction between typography and our brain. Full of little experiments that are fun to play with.

[Graeme · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this book disorganized and incoherent, with considerable overlap in subject matter. Not recommended.

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had some interesting information. But it got kind of repetitive and some pages were very cluttered which is a turn off for me.

[Ari Plant · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember buying 'Why Fonts matter' very well. It was during a time last year when I wasn't having a wonderful time and I went "Fuck it, don't I deserve to have books I want to read? To just not argue with myself and just get books that I want to read?" In that moment, I was clearly not having the best time that I have ever had and I was in an emotional state I wouldn't describe as great. I had grown frustrated by my inability to let myself read books that I wasn't assigned or books that I just wanted to read. "Of course I want to read a book about fonts, that sounds fascinating, who wouldn't want to read a book about fonts?!" So, in a haze of mania fueled by a low-level depression and a want for something outside of my study, I decided to buy a book about fonts.


So, in a stack of books about pirates and horror and everything else in between, I bought the book “Why Fonts Matter” and then the low-level depression became a crushing lie-in-bed feeling and I never got around to reading it.


Today, I finally got around to reading the book. I devoured it like a hungry man running across a slice of pizza on a sticky bar floor.


Fonts and Typeface have never been my thing. I am not a designer. I am not going to be in one of those meetings when people are talking about "I want this font to be more Anakin Skywalker and less Darth Vader; it should be more Rollerball and less Hunger Games". However, like the author describes, I am one of the poor people who is assaulted by fonts every minute of every day. 


Reading about the fonts feels like reading behind the scenes of a corporation; “this is how they get you” like a rabbit reading an instruction manual for a snare. It is fascinating to see how much psychology goes into something as simple as font choice. I feel like, now, looking around my dirty and cluttered desk, I can see all the fonts and their reasons behind them. I’m looking at you, tub of Haagen-Dazs.

[foteini_dl · Rating 3 out of 5]

[3,5*]
Now, this is a book I am quite font of (pun intended, #sorrynotsorry). Και το οποίο, με το που είδα τον κόκκινο κύκλο σε λευκό φόντο, μου θύμισε: (α) τη σημαία της Ιαπωνίας, με αποτέλεσμα να διαβάζω στο οπισθόφυλλο "(and why they are lots of sun)" αντί για "fun" (NLP much?), (β) το πίσω βιβλίο, που μιλάει για το graphic design και την τυπογραφία στη Βαϊμάρη (άχαστο).

Anyway, δεν χρειάζεσαι να είσαι γραφίστας για να το εκτιμήσεις, απευθύνεται σε όλους. Με απλά λόγια, μιλάει -μεταξύ άλλων- για τις γραμματοσειρές, πώς επηρεάζουν εμάς και τις επιλογές μας και πώς αποκαλύπτουν την προσωπικότητά μας. Ένα κεφάλαιο που έχει παραπάνω ενδιαφέρον είναι αυτό που δείχνει πως ορισμένες γραμματοσειρές έχουν συνδεθεί με σχήματα και γεύσεις (να ξέρεις, ανοίγεις ψυγείο και ντουλάπια). Το δεύτερο είναι αυτό που δείχνει πώς τα φύλα έλκονται από διαφορετικές γραμματοσειρές και γιατί.

Με λίγα λόγια, εμπειρικό βιβλίο που παρουσιάζει case studies και μικρές ασκήσεις για τον αναγνώστη. Το λες και πρακτικό, δηλαδή. Μοναδικό μείον, το ύφος. Όσο είναι πιο fun, όλα καλά. Όταν πάει να γίνει λίγο πιο σοβαρό, ας πούμε ότι δεν έχει λόγο. Σε κάθε περίπτωση, δεν το βαριέσαι.

[Ola · Rating 4 out of 5]

Why Fonts Matter is a great introduction for anyone interested in the psychological aspects of typography. It explores how people process visual information and how different typefaces can shape perceptions, convey hidden meanings, and evoke emotions. The book also includes a range of engaging exercises that allow readers to explore these concepts firsthand, giving it a playful and interactive feel.

Overall, it was an enjoyable and insightful read, though I wouldn’t recommend it to those seeking design advice focused solely on practical guidance, theoretical depth, or historical context.

[Radrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I want to give this book 4.5 stars but Goodreads won’t let me.

The book offers great insight and pictures to stress the importance of fonts and typefaces.

However, parts of it read like your daily horoscope trying to bolster your self worth. But with this time with fonts!

Overall, great read. Great book to add to the collection. Yet only read this one if you have ever wondered what’s the big deal with typography nd why is it important.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this book was like stepping into a strange world that I didn't know that I already knew. While it goes into type and graphic design, it's kinda a psychology or behavioral-science book in its own right. Not a must read, but if you read 15 books this year, this could be one of them. 4 stars.

The font-high-care level reminded me of the Saturday Night Live sketch about the Avatar movie's use of the Papyrus font: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVhlJ...

[Dessie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The content was interesting, I especially enjoyed the tests and have already started noticing things in my day-to-day life (such as my gym's name, whether on purpose or not, is typed in a very easy to read, rounded font - by Sarah's logic it makes it seem more attractive and easy to work out!).
I did find it a bit disorienting having to flip back and forth constantly and would have preferred it to be a bit more structured, but in general I enjoyed the content.

[Tracy]

I liked her conceit that typography and design subconsciously influence emotional reactions and experiences, and are a big part of storytelling. I also like her point that typography is a shared cultural construct, that we have created meaning for many styles of type that all of us learn.

The approach to this book was a bit jumbled, a combination of scientific research, her arguments, activities for the reader, and anecdotal data presented as scientific data (which bugged me).

[John Kaye · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, it was heavily hyped but for myself I didn't find it either particularly well thought-out, or well edited (quite a few mis-directions and missing bits). There is a short artiucle here (or, hey, a TED talk), but a book, no. But the link to the Beatrice Warde piece was new to me, and the most valuable thing in it!

[Raigo Lilleberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though for me, the results of authors personal researches, were here-n-there bit hard to understand, it was an interesting and eyeopening read, that talks more about the psychology behind ones interpretations of typography through different senses. Many fun tests and games to try out and a lot of references to different studies.

[Celeste · Rating 5 out of 5]

Creative and fun way to learn why the fonts you choose really matter. How, why and what they communicate. A must read for any design student. A treat for experienced designers who already "get it." Includes many examples and activities you could use with students or even clients to help communicate the importance of typography in design.

[David López · Rating 2 out of 5]

The books is great. My review is for the Kindle version. It's basically a pdf and I can't change the font. It's difficult to read on the kindle so I had to use an iPad.

As for the content. It's very insightful. A lot of great information about how we see emotion in fonts. I recommend it for any designer just don't get the Kindle version until it's updated.

[koicow · Rating 3 out of 5]

Informative and easy to read at first, but then it turned into a recipe book?

I wanted more in-depth examples with certain points, expanding on the impact of type, but instead it mentioned studies that are in progress of being researched. There was some food for thought in the first half, and some interesting games, but then it trailed off... am confused.

[Ashley Lambert-Maberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fairly lightweight stuff, especially if you’ve thought about this before. You will learn that fancy fonts seems expensive, and fat ugly fonts seem cheap. Worth a gander if from the library, as it’s diverting enough, but not something I’d buy as a serious reference, it’s not that book.

[Sumit Kant · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not just a font book!! This book, not only covers fonts but legitimately stresses on why they are used when they are used. The content is peppered with lots of insights from testing and scientific research in the areas of psychology, advertising and packaging.