I recently had to find a landscaper for my home, and doing so reminded me how much typography affects buying decisions, whether we realize it consciously or not.

I first called the landscaper whose Yellow Pages ad had the cleanest and most modern typography. I also called one with a much more dated and sloppy ad. Both ads stood out to me more than the rest, and both were for landscapers right near my town (so you know I didn’t base my calls on type alone). I had in my head before any of them came for an estimate that the first would probably be out of my price range, and that the second might be cheaper, but more traditional in style. Maybe it’s coincidence, but guess which one called me back first, was more professional, was more in line with my tastes, and… was much more expensive. The typography design chosen by this company reflected their style, their attitude, and their price.

When the owner of the company came out to do an estimate, he asked how I decided to call him out of all the ads in the phone book, and I told him honestly that his ad’s font choices had a lot to do with it. He wasn’t surprised—in fact, he knew that his ad design helped ensure that he’d hear from customers with tastes that are in line with his specialties, and (for better or worse) filter out some customers looking for a quick, cheap job.

Of course, there’s a lot more to consumer buying decisions than the typeface used in ads and promotional materials, but so often the typography is a pretty accurate reflection of what you can expect from a company or product, or how the company would like to you view them.

If you’ve taken my branding field trip,you may have noticed some of this in action. Field trips are great for focusing on how type operates in the consumer space. Visit the mall and compare the use of type (in logos, on posters, on product tags, and so on) for various companies of different price points and styles. For example, Gap Inc. owns Old Navy, GAP, and Banana Republic, each which targets a different price range—notice how the typography used in each store varies, indicating price, quality, and attitude.

Explore the type choices made by restaurants (fast food versus sit-down), big box stores (Wal-Mart versus Target), and specialty stores (local jeweler versus Tiffany). And as you explore, keep in mind that every typography decision should be considered deliberate. Typefaces, alignments, effects are all devised with a purpose in mind, so ask yourself what the purpose is. Does the sophisticated typeface match with the prices of products? Are traditional type features used to make all customers feel welcome, rather than excluded? Look beyond the decorative typefaces that may form a logo or announce big sales—what typefaces are used for supporting text? How do they support or contrast with the feel of the decorative type? Could different typography better express the needs of the company?

What you learn can have a huge effect on how you select typefaces and type treatments for client projects, as well as how you consider your own buying decisions. Type is a powerful communicator. It might even get me a new front lawn!

This entry was posted on Friday, August 24th, 2007 at 12:43 pm and is filed under Graphic Design. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.