Whether you need to write a business proposal or an email, you’re faced with choosing how you want your letters to look.

While Times New Roman is often the basic standard for corporations and students alike, no one dares use the highly loathed Comic Sans for anything in the business world — unless you want your colleagues to think you’re a six-year-old.

Knowing the importance of how your letters look means you get to make choices. But sometimes those choices can get confusing when it comes to the technicality of it all. Words like type font vs typeface sometimes seem as if they mean the same thing – but they don’t.

Don’t fret, though, because we are here to help you make sense of these often mixed-up terms. Continue reading for the full explanation.

The History of Typography

In order to have a better understanding of the difference between font vs typeface, we’re going to take it all the way back to 1st century Rome. After the Latin alphabet was created, several centuries would pass before lowercase letters would appear.

Students of the Holy Roman Empire were required to write in a standardized combination of upper and lower-case script. As the style of writing evolved, it wouldn’t be until the 11th century that a more uniform look would emerge.

Scribes took great lengths to transform the alphabet’s fluidity in style. Thicker type bodies were replaced with thinner, more elegant shapes and strokes became thicker and heavier. Fifteenth-century black letter would become the foundation for the modern-day type we know called Gothic.

Gothic type was often used in Germany for printing biblical passages and laws. However, the Italians felt the medieval look of Gothic was out of step with the Humanist movement. It would be the look of an early edition of a Cicero that prompted the 15th-century introduction to Antiqua – a nod to a typeface of yesteryears.

Antiqua would soon become what is known today as roman type. It grew in popularity throughout western Europe, despite its rejection in Germany, who still preferred Gothic. Gothic type would eventually retire in 1940 from its beloved dominance after an order was given to cease printing.

The creation of italics had roots in ancient scribe writings as well. Based on cursive, italics were meant to be written in quick bursts to make the clerks work faster. Claude Garamond and Simon de Colines, both well-known printers in France, would also heavily influence the development of the elegant 16th-century type known as Garamond.

With the onset of the Gutenberg printing press, Gothic, Roman, Garamond, and italics were detrimental typeface styles that would shape the world of printing as it is recognized today.

What Became of Calligraphy?

Although the time-honored art of calligraphy has faded since the introduction of the printing press, it still heavily influences a variety of typestyles. Frequently used for wedding invitations, birth announcements, and family tree records, the elegance, and grace of calligraphy’s artistic strokes have international roots.

The Arabic, Indian, Korean, Persian, Chinese, and Islamic languages all have this type of lettering that is handwritten in pen and paintbrush.

Bibles frequently used calligraphy in its texts, as did other religious scriptures, often beginning the first letter of every sentence with a calligraphy letter. Calligraphy influences can be found on your computer in today’s Unicode “Script” and Latin alphabets like “Fraktur.”

Font vs Typeface

So now that we’ve got the history of type behind us, let’s dig into the difference between font vs typeface. In the past, a page layout for any type of printed materials needed a few important things: metal letters, a frame, ink, and paper.

Among the hundreds, if not thousands, of metal letter blocks, were characters known as typeface. For each typeface, no matter what style, a separate block was used for every size and weight imaginable.

Typeface is the name of the style of each one of those tiny metal blocks in the same exact style as one another. For example, the Garamond alphabet and numerals are all in the same typeface because of the way it was designed.

Font is often a term that is confusing. Although it relates to typography, a font is actually very different than typeface. Fonts describe the variety of how the typeface is presented through weight and size.

An easy way to tell the difference is by the specifics. For example, the font of Gothic 11-point in italics looks very different from a bolded Gothic 22-point font. Same goes for an italicized bold Garamond 22 point versus an unbolded Garamond 14-point font.

Cut Through the Confusion

Although our computers don’t seem to help us understand these differences, the words simply reflect the fact that we are not choosing individual metal blocks for our emails and college term papers. Because we are frequently asked in our writing program’s drop-down window to choose a “font”, it only adds to the confusion.

So when it comes to the style of the letters, remember that font means how the letters look. To communicate your ideas to a designer, keep these terms in mind if you’re creating a company logo. If you wanted a more literal term from days gone by, then typeface is the precise word choice.

Ready to Create the Ultimate Logo?

We hope we cleared up any misconceptions you might have had about these two terms. Now that you know the difference between font vs typeface, you can move forward with confidence that you are using the right words.

For more helpful logo tips and articles, make sure to visit our blog and also check out our free logo maker tutorial today!

When you’re ready to start making some tough decisions about your logo design, we know that the colors you plan to include are one of the things that you’ll think about first.

But what sort of business color schemes will help you to connect with your target market?

And what are the best colors for logos when it comes to evoking emotion in the people who see it?

That’s what this post is all about.

From selecting branded colors to understanding how the associations people have with colors will influence your choice of logo design, we’ll tell you everything you need to know.

1. Consider Your Brand First

When you’re trying to come up with business color schemes, the very first thing that you need to consider is the overall message and story behind your brand.

For example, if you’re a consulting company that is goal-oriented, got its start in Silicon Valley, and works primarily with customers within the financial sector?

Then calming colors like light pinks and pastel purples aren’t exactly consistent with the message that you’re trying to send.

However, if you’re running an online boutique dedicated to Kawaii fashions? Then those pastel hues will be the perfect selection.

If you’re stuck on how to choose the right colors for your logo, take a look back at your Instagram feed. Which colors do you see primarily in your photos? If you’re an outdoor company, you’ll likely see lots of browns, blues, and greens.

But if you work in event planning, you might realize that gold, silvers, and classic black are better fits for your brand.

Another awesome way to come up with the right color choices for your logo?

Create a mood board.

Gather together pictures (from anywhere) that you feel best represent your brand. Then, look for color consistencies, and go from there.

Finally, researching the social media accounts of your target market is also an awesome way to make a final decision about your business color schemes. Take a look at the colors they gravitate towards, and make note of any consistencies.

Don’t expect to get things right on the first try, either. You’ll likely need to play around with tons of different color combinations before you commit to the best logo color schemes for your brand.

2. Know the Emotions Colors Can Evoke

Another key element that you’ll need to consider when you’re coming up with logo color schemes?

Make sure that you’ve taken the time to think about the emotions that certain colors can create in the people that interact with your logo.

For example, did you know that the color red has been scientifically proven to elevate blood pressure levels, as well as to increase your overall heart rate?

This is the perfect choice if you’re a discount store that wants to create a sense of urgency, but it’s not exactly a great fit for a bridal gown company, where stress levels are likely already high.

Additionally, you’ll need to think about which colors are recognized as a part of a certain industry.

For example, when people see the color green, they’re likely to associate it with the financial industry.

When they see oranges or yellows, they might associate your brand with relating to being outside in the sun (like a tanning salon or a travel agency specializing in beach vacations.)

Talk with your team — and even consider creating a poll on your company social media accounts — to learn more about the kinds of associations that your target market has with certain colors.

3. Ensure Your Colors Keep Things Legible

So, you’ve finally settled on colors that you think resonate well with both your brand and your target market.

But have you taken the time to consider how the choices you’ve made will look with the colors of text and the font that you’re planning on using on things like your website or physical business cards?

If not, now is the time to do so.

In general, if you’d like to keep things as legible as possible, we suggest that you go with no more than three different colors in your logo design — though if you can cut that number down to two, all the better.

If you’re dead set on using more than three colors, then ensure that they compliment each other well. You can use this article on which colors best compliment one another as an excellent starting point.

Finally, keep in mind that when it comes to any images you want to include in your logo design, less is more.

Choose one central image, and ensure that it’s completely in line with your branding strategy. If you can create a secret image or sneak in a hidden meaning into your logo, as these companies did?

It’s an awesome way to generate buzz about your brand — which is especially important if you’re still in the growth stages.

Making Business Color Schemes a Part of Your Logo: What Now?

Now that you’ve finalized your color choices, your font styles, and even made a choice about the central image that you’re planning to use in your logo?

It’s time to start bringing your business color schemes to life.

But as we mentioned earlier in this post, it’s likely that you’ll go through several different re-designs of your potential logo before you decide on “the one.”

Looking to find a free online logo maker tool to help make that trial and error process easier — and even fun?

We’ve got you covered.

Our blog is also packed with continually-updated advice about the hottest trends in logo design and development — so be sure to bookmark this page before you go.

It’s possibly the most significant choice you will make for your new business, and it will impact the company into the foreseeable future.

You’re creating a logo.

It seems so simple, brainless even. After all, Coca-Cola got by with a fancy font and red letters. More thought goes into a logo than customers realize, and you’re about to find out just how much.

Do you want a logo that doesn’t stink? That’s unforgettable and inspiring?

We’ll walk you through the basic steps so that your company’s symbol doesn’t fall through the cracks.

Is It That Important?

No. It’s even more important than “that.”

Studies show 67% of 2 to 3-year-olds can successfully match logos with products. That leaps to 100% by the time those children reach 8 years of age.

Furthermore, logos have jumped off of ads and into consumers’ pockets and bags. Purchasers see them every day when they use a product or swipe through an app. This intimacy results in a higher sense of ownership and loyalty.

Research indicates this sense is so strong customers are willing to pay more for these products because they have touched them. If they see your logo and interact with it, they are more likely to buy from you.

Nowadays, encouraging those interactions is easier than ever. You can print logos on merchandise, business cards, and brochures. You can even use your logo on advertisements sent through the mail. Best of all, many companies offer printing services at an affordable price, as you can see on this website.

Creating a Logo

So how do you go about creating a logo that customers can interact with? There are a number of tricks, and we’ll share them all.

1. Know Your Company

Before you begin to imagine your logo, you must think long and hard about your company. Many entrepreneurs skip this step with devastating results.

A good logo holds hours of thought and research in its simple design. Empower your entire team to think about your logo.

Issie Lapowsky of Inc. writes, “The most iconic logos were conceptualized for millions of dollars employing teams of professional creative directors, art designers, and focus groups.” Then again, the Twitter logo was reportedly purchased from an artist for $6.

Either way, don’t assume that because you’re the head of a company or an executive you have a clear understanding of what your company offers the world. Assembling a team is an easy way to get diverse opinions and to test a logo for its overall success.

Ask yourself these questions:

• What is the company’s mission in my own words?
• In three or fewer words, what are its core values?
• How do I want people to feel when they think of the business?
• What products or services does it offer?

Write down your answers. They provide vital information you will use later on.

2. Research Competition

You’re still not quite ready to design. Now it’s time to research your competition.

What are other businesses using in their logos? Make a list or print them off on a single sheet.

Your goal is to make a logo that stands out, so try to rule out the images, shapes, fonts and color schemes you see consistently.

3. Decide on a Basic Image

Finally, it’s time to consider your image or words. Whatever you decide should pertain to your company and your customers.

Starbucks, for instance, has the drawing of a siren. What does this have to do with coffee?

Not much, but it has everything to do with the company’s core value and the emotion they want to invoke in customers: desire. It’s implying a commitment to give customers what they want. Just as sirens seduce sailors, your barista prepares your cup of coffee to your taste to seduce you.

Add a dash of creativity here:

• Two images wrapped into one
• One single, simple image
• The company name
• Include an image using letters or vice versa, as seen in the FedEx logo

The options are endless. One good piece of advice is to use a dynamic image, which implies movement.

Studies show dynamic images increase customer engagement. If these images connect with the business’s services or products, they boost consumer attitudes about the brand.

4. Select an Appropriate Shape

Shapes also say more than you might have bargained for.

Circular shapes convey a positive, emotional message that implies community or friendship. Squares and triangles suggest stability and efficiency.

Vertical and horizontal lines add even more emotion. Vertical lines give off feelings of masculinity, strength, and aggression while horizontal ones encourage feelings of calmness, community, and peace.

Also, consider the ease with which you can print or transfer a shape or transferred when deciding on one for your logo.

5. Consider Color Psychology

Color also plays into logos. Starbucks’s green connects to their commitment to sustainable coffee. McDonald’s yellow and red colors make viewers hungry.

The main deciding factor here is how you want consumers to feel. We’ve broken down some of the basic connotations of colors to make it easier:

• Red – intensity and passion
• Blue – depth and stability
• Yellow – energy and joy
• Green – nature
• Purple – luxury
• Orange – happiness

Color is so significant that 84.7% of customers cite it as the primary reason for a purchase. Use only one or two colors to avoid sensory overload, and make sure they relate to your company values.

Whatever main image you choose should function well in black and white, as well as in color to give the logo more marketing versatility.

6. Reflect on Typography

Font choice is as important as color should you use words in your logo.

There are two basic types of fonts: serif and sans-serif. Serif fonts are the ones with the fancy embellishments at the tips of letters. These are your Times New Roman and Century fonts.

Serif fonts evoke feelings of old-school belief systems, class and timelessness. They are professional and upstanding.

Sans-serif fonts don’t have those neat little embellishments. However, they are being used more and more in logos and marketing, as they appeal to the newer generations. These fonts emphasize youth, minimalism, out-of-the-box thinking and fashion.

Which fits your company?

7. Contemplate Symmetry and Size

You’ve gotten most of the tough stuff out of the way. Now, consider symmetry and size.

Too big and your logo risks making people run away. Too small and it appears weak. Find the size that’s just right.

The same rule applies to fonts and images. Emphasize certain parts of the logo by making them larger, but be leery.

Likewise, take a look at your symmetry. Humans like symmetry. People associate symmetry with beauty and perfection.

But it can create a cool, otherworldly sensation when used in a logo. This is the exact reason you’ll see the nose of Starbucks’s mermaid is longer on one side. Without it, she appeared frightening, so the designers changed it.

They may have been onto something. Recent studies confirm that asymmetry evokes subjective arousal and brand excitement.

8. Watch the Negative Space

Negative space is the area between images and fonts that consumes a logo if there is too much. If there is too little negative space, the logo appears cluttered.

Finding balance is integral in creating a successful logo.

Use negative space to create secondary images or to add a sense of balance to the logo. You can even use it to create shadows, to turn a “flat” image into a dynamic one or to give a 3-D feel to it.

This creates further engagement.

9. Keep It Simple and Timeless

Keep it simple. Simple is strong and timeless.

It’s also easy for your customers to remember.

This isn’t a rule, per se. First and foremost, logos should convey something about a company. If you want your company’s image to be one of nuance and intricacy, your logo should be, too.

10. Suggest a Story

Your logo should have a story behind it. Nike’s symbol isn’t just a “swish.” It’s a wing.

In fact, it’s a Greek goddess’s wing.

Whatever logo you settle on, it should tell a story. Sometimes, this implication is in the image’s simplicity or, like Starbucks’s mermaid, in curiosity about its connection to the company.

11. Create and Test

Once you’ve created several designs, go back through the checklist to see if your design holds up to all the characteristics mentioned here. If it does, it’s time to create it online.

Use our free online logo maker to test it out and play with the elements. Don’t restrict yourself and save several different designs.

Print them off and show them to your team. Ask for their first impressions and after-impressions. Discuss, re-evaluate and try again.

Eventually, you’ll decide on a logo everyone likes. But don’t stop there. Show it to random acquaintances who aren’t familiar with the company to get their opinions, too.

Strong Symbols

If you follow these 11 steps, you’ll find success in creating a logo that people will remember. Take your time, don’t be afraid to mess up and have fun with it.

If you’re ready to start, read over our article about logo grids before fashioning your first designs! Logo grids can save you tons of time and center your focus. Read all about them here.

Now it’s time to take a breath, pick up a pen or pencil and let your imagination roam.

If we ask you “What’s in a word,” how would you answer?

Well, you can take a page out of Google’s book.

Nowadays, people don’t only use it to refer to the $132.1 billion-worth company. They also use it to refer to the action of “searching via Google” (like “Just Google it!”). Some even use it as an adjective (think “Google-worthy” topics).

Before its inception though, you wouldn’t find the word Google in the dictionary. That’s because the name came from a typo of the mathematical term “googol.”

From there, company’s wordmark logo became one of the most recognizable today.

This then brings us to the next question:

Wouldn’t it be awesome if your own brand logo can have the same impact on consumers?

How exactly can you come up with a powerful wordmark design though?

Keep reading to learn how to use the best typeface for your logo!

Know Thy Enemy’s Typeface

First things first: Find out what typeface your direct competition already uses.

The last thing you want, after all, is for anyone to mistake their typeface with your brand name. Also, your brand is one of a kind, so that means your logo should be too.

As such, take the time to do some background-checking on your competitors. Look at what they use for their typefaces. Steer clear from these and use another, or better yet, have one engineered (AKA custom typeface) for your business.

It’s also a good idea to keep yourself in the loop of the latest logo design trends. This way, you can figure out whether your ideas make the cut or if you should trim them from your final decision.

Shoot the Serif or the Sans-Serif?

What does Sony and The New York Times have in common?

A Serif typeface, that’s what!

FedEx and Microsoft, on the other hand, use Sans Serif typefaces.

With these examples, can you now distinguish the difference now between a Serif and a Sans Serif?

Simply put, Serifs have those fancy features on the ends of each stroke (think Times New Roman, Garamond, and Georgia). Sans Serifs (like Arial and Tahoma) don’t.

It’s for this reason that you’ll find Serifs used in normal body texts while Sans is for smaller texts (like web copy, for instance). But this is only one way to differentiate the two.

Since we’re talking about brand logos, when should you use which then?

It depends on the type of mood, emotions, and perceptions you want to instill in consumers.

Say, for instance, your brand’s offers have something to do with kids. In this case, a Sans may work in your favor, since their simplicity makes them easy to recognize. It’s simple, clean, and minimalistic, making it a good way to create a logo with a modernized look.

Legibility in All Sizes

Whether you go for a Serif or a Sans, you need to make sure your chosen wordmark font keeps its legibility in all instances.

No matter what the font size is. Regardless of what channel (print or digital) you put it in.

A critical consideration for this is the typeface’s weight. How thick (or thin) is it? Do you need to add a bit of texture to it or keep it solid?

You also need to make a case with your typeface’s case. How readable is it in all uppercase (and lowercase) letters? What does it look like with a combination of uppercase and lowercase?

The important thing is to experiment and try out all possible sizes and case combinations. This way, you can ensure consumers can read your logo – whether printed out or displayed on computer/laptop screens, tablets, or smartphones – without any problem.

The Right Color Can Make or Break Your Wordmark Logo

More than one billion people from all over the world know right away what they’re looking at when they see the six-letter Google. (Maybe apart from China, where it’s banned.)

Most, if not all, can even tell right away what colors make up the company’s logo. In other words, when they see the combination of blue, red, yellow, and green, Google’s most likely the first thing to pop into their mind.

This should already tell you that your logo’s color scheme tells a lot about your brand.

First, different colors set off different emotions. That includes consumer behaviors – buying decisions, in particular.

Red, for instance, stirs feelings of urgency. That’s why stores love them for discount or sales signs.

Blue, on the other hand, signals safety, security, and trustworthiness. You need only to think about companies like Bank of America, IBM, Paypal, Facebook, and Oreo among many others.

Black exudes sophistication (why, hello there, classy little black dress). It also represents authority and power, which is why you’ll find it in the logos of Mercedes-Benz, Nikon, Giorgio Armani, Gucci, etc.

All these said, you need to consider color scheme as important as the typeface when creating your word-only logo.

Reinforce Your Brand’s Uniqueness with a Character Feature in Its Logo

Vans most likely wouldn’t be as recognizable if it wasn’t for that line extending from the V in its logo. The same goes for the XX in Exxon Mobile. Or that lopsided E in Dell’s logo.

What we’re saying is that it’s possible to make typeface logos recognizable and recallable with only a single character feature. Of course, this doesn’t work for all brands, but it’s something that you should consider if you want to make your unique logo even more unique.

Wow Your Customers with Only A Single Look at Your Logo

Creating the best wordmark logo takes research and planning. But so long as you follow these tips, you’ll leave your customers exclaiming wow at first sight. In fact, your logo can make your brand a household name.

Want more tips and tricks that’ll help you get your logo imprinted in your customers’ minds? Then make sure you check our other blog posts out!