Developer, You Are Surrounded by Fonts!

Fonts are everywhere, no matter where you look.

My goal in this post is to pass on my geekiness and excitement about fonts. Thinking about why a font was chosen for a billboard sign, a website, or an app was a real eye-opener for me. That was one of my a-ha moments leading to further reading and learning about the effects design decisions have on our lives.

Oh, and there's a movie recommendation at the end.

Why Fonts Matter

Here are some reasons why it might interest you:

1. Understanding Fonts Makes You a Better Programmer

Good software developers care about the code that they are writing, optimizing algorithms, adding comments, caring about different parts in the application like the database.

Great developers care also about the product they are working on, expressing their opinion on the user interface, user experience, and the design. Fonts are part of that bigger picture.

2. The Real World is Full of Fonts

Our daily lives in the real world are full of fonts. Not paying attention to them is like walking in the woods without enjoying the beauty of the trees themselves.

The same word written in a different font can send a different message. Just like in speech you can say the same word in different tones, in a way it will have a different meaning.

By choosing a different font, readers could have a different feeling and opinion about the product they are looking at.

3. The Development World is Full of Fonts

As a software developer, especially if you are dealing with GUI, you are defining these fonts. In story reviews, you see them, and sometimes there's a discussion about them. Don't you want to have the ability to have a better talk with your UI designer friends?

Fonts in the Real World – Many Examples Ahead

Experiment Time! Which Coffee Shop Would You Choose?

Close your eyes and think of coffee. Say with me: "I need coffee". Again. "I need coffee…". Again! That's enough.

Now open your eyes. You are looking at two coffee shops, which one would you go to? Both Cafes are real and exist 20 meters apart in Koh Phangan island, that is where I live at the moment 😊

First, Mimi's Cafe:

Mimi's Cafe, a font made by twinkling fairies

Second, a different place, let's call it Coffee Cafe:

Simple coffee shop sign, pretty generic IMHO

Consider the following questions about the two places above (judging only by the entrance sign):

Where do you expect to have better quality coffee?
Which one would be more expensive?
How is the wi-fi signal in each one?
Which one has faster service?
In which one could you sit down with the owner and speak about life?
Which one has soy milk / gluten-free cookies?

You get the idea.

The fonts and logo design create the first impression. This impression will intuitively, sometimes in a not-aware way, help you decide which one to go to.

Your Font is Part of Your Brand's Identity

When I wandered around taking pictures for this post, I noticed that some places choose their fonts by using a famous font that someone else already attached meaning to.

For example, if I have a rock bar, and I want people to understand it in a glimpse, I might use something like this:

Roof top bar with a familiar metal-style font

I will definitely expect some good old rock when I enter their place.

Each business has its own identity, style, feel. Choosing the right font can help convey the message. Where do you think this one got inspired from?

Cookies Cafe, it actually has pretty good latte

If you're not from outer space, you probably recognized the Disney style.

A/B Testing in the Real World

Here's an example from the real world. This hotel has two street signs, each one facing a different direction on the road.

One of the signs has a stylish modern logo, with a soothing, relaxing, wave-like font:

The sign leading to nice sea resort, the logo is on top

The other one, on the opposite direction, has an old style, rusty, happy, wild wild west, bar saloon kind of font and design:

Nice sea resort sign with a different style

Which one do you think attracts more visitors? Is this a good enough reason to update their logo?

I don't think the hotel measures this, but it could be fascinating.

Should We Do A/B Testing on Fonts?

A/B Testing is the process of having 2 alternatives for something (the location of a cart button on a website for example) and finding out which alternative performs better.

Is selecting a specific font (for a website, a street sign, video captions, etc.) can make it perform better and sell more?

While I don't have specific data on A/B testing focused solely on fonts, it's not such a bad idea to consider how different fonts might affect user behavior and conversion rates.

Conclusions and a Movie Recommendation

Fonts are here to stay - you simply cannot write or type anything without a font. As software developers, we come across them in our development environment and in the products we create.

You can go on with your work without paying attention to them, but that would be a waste. The design decisions, including the one about selecting a font for your product, are crucial to the product's branding and identity.

Movie Recommendation

Helvetica – a great documentary about fonts and typography. It really opened my eyes about typography. You can find it on Amazon VOD.

Image Credits:

Cover image from gator3095.temp.domains