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 * 06-03-22


THE SURPRISING PSYCHOLOGY OF FONTS


HOW TYPEFACES IMPACT EMOTIONS REMAINS LARGELY UNSTUDIED, BUT A NEW REPORT
SUGGESTS THAT DIFFERENT FONTS CAN ELICIT DIFFERENT EMOTIONS.

[Source Images: Monotype]
 * 
 * 
 * 
 * 

More Like This
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By Elissaveta M. Brandon4 minute Read

About four years ago, I received a surprising email—not surprising because of
what it said, but because of the way it looked. The text was set in Courier,
that font you see in movies when hackers write code on a black screen. The email
became sort of a running joke at the office, and I couldn’t take this person
seriously when they emailed again.




That’s judgmental, I know, but it turns out I’m not alone. A new study suggests
that fonts can indeed change the way we feel about a certain message. The study
was run by Monotype, the world’s biggest type foundry, which partnered with
applied neuroscience company Neurons. Together, they surveyed 400 people in the
UK, who were presented with different words laid out in three contrasting types.
The scope of the study is fairly small, and the motivations behind a type
foundry publicizing a study about the impact of type can’t be ignored. But the
study does confirm one thing: Fonts are subjective, and they can mean different
things to different people.



[Image: Monotype]This isn’t the first study to explore the impact of different
fonts. In 2018, a team of researchers at Australia’s RMIT University developed a
typeface they said could boost memory retention (the font was difficult enough
to engage the readers, yet legible enough so as to not obstruct the reading) but
the impact of that font was later disproved. More recently, a major study
determined that some fonts, like Garamond EB and Montserrat, were harder for
older people to read. But the impact of typefaces on emotions remains largely
unstudied, at least when it comes Latin languages.





[Image: Monotype]There’s a reason this hasn’t been done at scale. “[Typography]
is your tone of voice,” says Phil Garnham, a senior creative type director at
Monotype. “And the aroma, the feeling that generates is really important and
it’s subliminal.” Indeed, subconscious reactions can be hard to qualify, let
alone quantify. Also, fonts go hand in hand with words—so, how do you
distinguish between people’s reaction to the meaning of a word compared to the
font in which it’s presented?







[Image: Monotype]The founder and CEO of Neurons, Thomas Z. Ramsøy, explains that
when we try to perceive the meaning of a word, the activity is reflected in the
temporal lobe, a part of the brain that helps us process emotions. He says fonts
can also trigger an emotional response. “More positive emotional responses are
seen for softer and more recognizable font types,” he says. “Negative emotions
are often triggered by pointy and sharp font types.” But to distinguish between
the two, the study had to give people the same words, laid out in different
fonts.



In total, the team surveyed 400 men and women between the ages of 18 and 50.
Each participant took the survey online and was given three kinds of stimuli:
single words (“quality,” “trust,” and “innovation), those same words in a
sentence (“quality never goes out of style”) and that same sentence coupled with
the name of a random brand (like Skova or Smith’s Bank).

Each of these stimuli was set in three contrasting typefaces: FS Jack, a soft,
lightweight sans serif; Gilroy, a bolder, more geometric sans serif; and
Cotford, a serif font that looks more historical. (Monotype designed two of the
three fonts, excluding Gilroy.)





[Image: Monotype]The findings showed that one typeface can elicit a more
positive response than another by up to 13%. When participants were shown the
word “quality” in Cotford, they found it 10% more memorable than the two other
fonts. Conversely, when they were shown a full sentence in Gilroy, they found it
stood out by 12% compared to the other two. These numbers may not seem like a
lot, but Mike Storm, Neuron’s chief operating officer and partner, says that any
difference above 5 to 6% is considered “significant.”



As Ramsøy explains, some fonts can trigger existing associations with nostalgic
brands. “Winding fonts work great for grandma’s jam products,” he says. To avoid
preexisting associations, the team chose fonts that aren’t directly associated
with particular brands but can be associated with three sectors more broadly:
Gilroy for the tech industry; Cotford for luxury and fashion; and FS Jack for
banking and financial services (in other words, a large sampling of Monotype’s
client portfolio).



[Image: Monotype]Inevitably, though, the choice of words matters, too. Marie
Boulanger, a Monotype brand designer who also studied linguistics, says she
chose words that come up often in brand mission statements. But if the words had
been different, it’s likely the results would’ve been different, as well. (The
team considered running the tests with nonsense words, but “you never look at
type in a vacuum,” says Boulanger, so real words made the most sense.)





Ultimately, she admits, the study only scratches the surface. Do older people
prefer the same type as younger folks? Is there a gender bias? What happens when
you add 10 or 20 more fonts to the equation? And do results vary based on where
you live? The team didn’t study any of these factors, but Storm says a more
in-depth study could help them dig in more. “We would be very interested in
looking at demographical and regional differences, to see if culture has a large
impact on this,” he says.

For now, we know that different fonts can elicit different emotions based on the
same word. And given that participants were given between half a second and 2.5
seconds to choose (most answered within 1 second), it’s clear that those
reactions come from the gut. Until a more in-depth study can be run, that’s a
promising start.

In the meantime, I know where I stand on Courier.





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 * 06-03-22


THE SURPRISING PSYCHOLOGY OF FONTS


HOW TYPEFACES IMPACT EMOTIONS REMAINS LARGELY UNSTUDIED, BUT A NEW REPORT
SUGGESTS THAT DIFFERENT FONTS CAN ELICIT DIFFERENT EMOTIONS.

[Source Images: Monotype]
 * 
 * 
 * 
 * 

By Elissaveta M. Brandon4 minute Read

About four years ago, I received a surprising email—not surprising because of
what it said, but because of the way it looked. The text was set in Courier,
that font you see in movies when hackers write code on a black screen. The email
became sort of a running joke at the office, and I couldn’t take this person
seriously when they emailed again.

advertisement

advertisement



That’s judgmental, I know, but it turns out I’m not alone. A new study suggests
that fonts can indeed change the way we feel about a certain message. The study
was run by Monotype, the world’s biggest type foundry, which partnered with
applied neuroscience company Neurons. Together, they surveyed 400 people in the
UK, who were presented with different words laid out in three contrasting types.
The scope of the study is fairly small, and the motivations behind a type
foundry publicizing a study about the impact of type can’t be ignored. But the
study does confirm one thing: Fonts are subjective, and they can mean different
things to different people.



[Image: Monotype]This isn’t the first study to explore the impact of different
fonts. In 2018, a team of researchers at Australia’s RMIT University developed a
typeface they said could boost memory retention (the font was difficult enough
to engage the readers, yet legible enough so as to not obstruct the reading) but
the impact of that font was later disproved. More recently, a major study
determined that some fonts, like Garamond EB and Montserrat, were harder for
older people to read. But the impact of typefaces on emotions remains largely
unstudied, at least when it comes Latin languages.





[Image: Monotype]There’s a reason this hasn’t been done at scale. “[Typography]
is your tone of voice,” says Phil Garnham, a senior creative type director at
Monotype. “And the aroma, the feeling that generates is really important and
it’s subliminal.” Indeed, subconscious reactions can be hard to qualify, let
alone quantify. Also, fonts go hand in hand with words—so, how do you
distinguish between people’s reaction to the meaning of a word compared to the
font in which it’s presented?



advertisement




[Image: Monotype]The founder and CEO of Neurons, Thomas Z. Ramsøy, explains that
when we try to perceive the meaning of a word, the activity is reflected in the
temporal lobe, a part of the brain that helps us process emotions. He says fonts
can also trigger an emotional response. “More positive emotional responses are
seen for softer and more recognizable font types,” he says. “Negative emotions
are often triggered by pointy and sharp font types.” But to distinguish between
the two, the study had to give people the same words, laid out in different
fonts.



In total, the team surveyed 400 men and women between the ages of 18 and 50.
Each participant took the survey online and was given three kinds of stimuli:
single words (“quality,” “trust,” and “innovation), those same words in a
sentence (“quality never goes out of style”) and that same sentence coupled with
the name of a random brand (like Skova or Smith’s Bank).

Each of these stimuli was set in three contrasting typefaces: FS Jack, a soft,
lightweight sans serif; Gilroy, a bolder, more geometric sans serif; and
Cotford, a serif font that looks more historical. (Monotype designed two of the
three fonts, excluding Gilroy.)

advertisement




[Image: Monotype]The findings showed that one typeface can elicit a more
positive response than another by up to 13%. When participants were shown the
word “quality” in Cotford, they found it 10% more memorable than the two other
fonts. Conversely, when they were shown a full sentence in Gilroy, they found it
stood out by 12% compared to the other two. These numbers may not seem like a
lot, but Mike Storm, Neuron’s chief operating officer and partner, says that any
difference above 5 to 6% is considered “significant.”



As Ramsøy explains, some fonts can trigger existing associations with nostalgic
brands. “Winding fonts work great for grandma’s jam products,” he says. To avoid
preexisting associations, the team chose fonts that aren’t directly associated
with particular brands but can be associated with three sectors more broadly:
Gilroy for the tech industry; Cotford for luxury and fashion; and FS Jack for
banking and financial services (in other words, a large sampling of Monotype’s
client portfolio).



[Image: Monotype]Inevitably, though, the choice of words matters, too. Marie
Boulanger, a Monotype brand designer who also studied linguistics, says she
chose words that come up often in brand mission statements. But if the words had
been different, it’s likely the results would’ve been different, as well. (The
team considered running the tests with nonsense words, but “you never look at
type in a vacuum,” says Boulanger, so real words made the most sense.)



advertisement


Ultimately, she admits, the study only scratches the surface. Do older people
prefer the same type as younger folks? Is there a gender bias? What happens when
you add 10 or 20 more fonts to the equation? And do results vary based on where
you live? The team didn’t study any of these factors, but Storm says a more
in-depth study could help them dig in more. “We would be very interested in
looking at demographical and regional differences, to see if culture has a large
impact on this,” he says.

For now, we know that different fonts can elicit different emotions based on the
same word. And given that participants were given between half a second and 2.5
seconds to choose (most answered within 1 second), it’s clear that those
reactions come from the gut. Until a more in-depth study can be run, that’s a
promising start.

In the meantime, I know where I stand on Courier.


advertisement

advertisement

advertisement

advertisement






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IMPACT

Impact


3 CHARTS THAT EXPLAIN THE U.S.’S NEW RECORDS IN RENEWABLE ENERGY GENERATION

Impact


SOME STATES WANT TO RAISE THE AGE FOR ASSAULT RIFLE PURCHASES. WOULD THAT CURB
MASS SHOOTINGS?

Impact


IN THE DESERT, THESE SPRAWLING GREENHOUSES HELP DECARBONIZE HEAVY INDUSTRY


NEWS

News


WHY RAPPER MACKLEMORE SAYS CREATING HIS GOLF APPAREL BRAND IS A LOT LIKE MAKING
MUSIC

News


DOJA CAT, TACO BELL, MEXICAN PIZZA, AND THE MAKING OF A MARKETING UNICORN

News


WHY ARE SO MANY HIGH-INCOME AMERICANS LIVING PAYCHECK TO PAYCHECK?


CO.DESIGN

Co.Design


SCHOOL SHOOTINGS ARE NOT A DESIGN ISSUE

Co.Design


THE SURPRISING PSYCHOLOGY OF FONTS

Co.Design


SEE HOW THE ICONIC AIRSTREAM HAS EVOLVED OVER THE PAST 90 YEARS


WORK LIFE

Work Life


THIS IS HOW TO SEE THE FUTURE (AND 5 WAYS TO BE READY FOR ANYTHING)

Work Life


FEELING FORGETFUL? HERE ARE 5 EASY WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR MEMORY ACCORDING TO
SCIENCE

Work Life


YOUR REMOTE EMPLOYEES AREN’T DISLOYAL. THEY JUST NEED MORE OF THIS

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