Brands - Typography, Colour, Emotion: Why Design Choices Aren’t Accidental

Associate Events
21 minutes ago
4 min read

By Lucy Wait, AE, Head of Design

When it comes to brand identity we can all mention a handful of well known brands that stick in our minds – the multi-million pound companies that encroach on our everyday lives; we might have their apps on our phones, use their platforms to watch movies, shop in their stores, grab lunch at their restaurants. Yes, I’m talking about the big giants; Netflix, Amazon, Apple, Tesco, KFC.

Big, bold, household names aren't just well-known; they are prime examples of carefully considered and effectively executed brand choices - representing successful brands. The marketeers behind these brands understand the necessity of getting the typestyle, graphics, and colour palette absolutely right. A superior product is simply not enough; it needs an appealing brand that draws in the audience, often for subconscious reasons.

Let’s look at typography

There are hundreds of fonts available; serif or sans serif, thin or chunky, clean with sharp edges or soft and rounded - the list goes on. The font style needs to match with the brand's tone of voice, the target audience and the product itself. Some logos are purely made up of a typestyle, others incorporate a graphic like a symbol or icon. The ones that are type only such as Netflix, Google, DKNY & Etsy are actually really clever and arguably most memorable as their simplicity makes them stand out. But which type-style do you go for when developing a brand?

Let’s compare DKNY and Etsy

DKNY uses a bold, sans serif font for its fashion house brand, it feels powerful, and has a strong presence. It’s simple, solid, and contemporary - which appeals to its younger audience who wear the brand on their clothing. The font style matches their tone of voice which is friendly - not fluffy, and bold statements are used in their marketing such as ‘The Ultimate Denim Shop’ and ‘Walk the Walk’ with the chunky, bold lettering delivering impact.

The Etsy logo uses a serif font and emphasises the capital ‘E’ which is also used as a brand stamp. The choice of font indicates a more traditional approach with its target market being small businesses and often start-ups who handmake their products. The typestyle gives a feeling of uniqueness, something different - which the brand is all about.

When thinking about brand colours, you might argue that a number of colours could work for a number of different brands. In some cases this concept does work, let’s take Nike as an example – the brand is known for using black and red - but they often change their colours for different marketing campaigns. They recently launched a Metaverse campaign to promote their classic Air Max trainer to a younger generation and used bright blues, purples and pinks alongside balloon-like letters for the strapline in the bright colours to give a fun, happy feeling which worked well, alongside their recognised brand font.

But what would happen if the Netflix brand was purple? Or the KFC brand yellow? Well, chances are that will never happen and there's a good reason for it.These well-established brands have developed their logos over the years, the style changing with time. The KFC brand dates right back to the 1950’s where it started with a single colour black logo - with the red introduced in 1991. Since then, it’s evolved, but the core elements including the Colonel Sanders' portrait, KFC typeface and colour red have stayed the same. Red is a striking colour, it stands out and evokes a feeling of excitement and enjoyment which works perfectly for the fast-food brand. If the colour was yellow, it just wouldn’t have the same impact, it would feel more muted and perhaps get lost in a competitive fast-food market.

So how do typography and colour spark emotion? Let’s look at Netflix

Netflix logotype is a bold sans serif font which has been cleverly designed with a subtle curve to give maximum impact and - together with the bold red colour - it gives a feeling of energy and excitement.

When someone asks you what television series or movie you have watched lately, what do you think of, Netflix perhaps? The brand becomes more than just a brand, it becomes part of our weekly routines in some cases; the phrase ‘Netflix and chill’ has become a widely used term for watching something at home and relaxing but you’re not watching terrestrial television or a particular movie, the reference uses the brand to describe an activity that people do regularly, so the emotion of feeling relaxed, chilling, maybe having a cosy night in, with family or friends becomes directly associated with Netflix, genius!

So what does this teach us? When it comes to brand identity, type and colour are equally important in portraying what your brand is about, the personality it has, what it stands for, and the audience it talks to.

To conclude, creating a brand is arguably the most important part of your business

Ok - so anyone can create a logo. AI will churn one out for you - but ask yourself this before going down the quick and easy route - is this a brand or simply just a logo? Does it speak to the intended audience, does it stand out in the market? With so many points to consider, research to undertake, target audience, brand testing, colour and font choices, style, emotions, look and feel- the list goes on, you need to get it right when it comes to your brand.