Choosing fonts for your brand: licenses, pairing and custom type

What fonts do for a brand

Typefaces carry personality. A geometric sans serif can feel modern and clean, a classic serif can feel established and trustworthy, a rounded font can feel friendly, and a condensed bold font can feel energetic. Beyond personality, fonts must be readable at the sizes you use, on screens and in print, and support the languages and characters you need. A good brand font choice balances distinctiveness with practicality.

Building a simple type system

Most brands work best with a small type system: a heading font, a body font and a few weights such as regular, medium and bold. Pairing works well when fonts contrast clearly, for example a serif for headings with a sans serif for body text, or one versatile family used in different weights. Set rules for sizes, line spacing and how headings, quotes and buttons look. A designer can document these in your brand style guide so websites, presentations and print materials stay consistent.

Understanding font licenses

Buying or downloading a font usually gives you a license, not ownership. Licenses often separate uses:

• Desktop: install on computers to create documents, images and print materials.
• Web: embed on a website, often priced by monthly page views.
• App: embed in a mobile or desktop application.
• Ebook and digital documents: embed in files you distribute.
• Logo and broadcast: some licenses have special terms for logos, video and advertising.

Free fonts vary. Many are released under open licenses that allow commercial use, but others found on download sites are for personal use only. Always read the license and keep a copy. If a designer uses a font in your logo or materials, ask which license applies and whether it should be purchased in your business's name.

Fonts in logos

Many logos start with an existing font that the designer then customizes. Customizing letter shapes makes the logo more distinctive and easier to protect. Ask the logo designer which font was used, whether its license allows logo use, and to provide the logo with text converted to outlines so it displays correctly everywhere. Our logo file formats article explains outlined text and other file details.

Custom lettering and custom fonts

Custom lettering is drawn specifically for one purpose, such as a logo, product name or packaging headline. It is distinctive and often more affordable than a full font. A custom font is a complete set of letters, numbers and symbols that you can type with, built for your brand. It removes ongoing license costs for many uses and makes your brand unique, but it takes longer and costs more, especially if you need several weights or languages. A typography specialist can advise which suits your needs.

Practical checks

• Test fonts at small sizes on a phone and in long paragraphs.
• Check support for all languages and special characters you use.
• Make sure numbers and symbols, like currency signs, look good in the chosen font.
• Choose a fallback font for situations where your brand font is not available, such as emails.
• Check loading speed on your website; too many font files slow pages down.

What to tell a designer

Describe the personality you want, share examples of brands whose typography you like, list where the fonts will be used, from websites and apps to packaging and signage, and mention any languages beyond English. Ask for a recommended pairing, license information and estimated license costs for your uses. If you need a custom font, explain which characters, weights and file formats you require.

Font checklist

• Heading and body fonts chosen and tested.
• Licenses checked for desktop, web, app and other uses.
• Licenses held in your business's name, with copies kept.
• Logo text outlined and font name recorded.
• Fallback fonts defined.
• Typography rules documented in your style guide.

Keep all font files and licenses in a shared folder so anyone working on your brand uses the same, properly licensed fonts.