Imagine a gigantic letter “G” sitting comfortably on a long, dark brown, leather sofa, discussing all of its problems to the letter “i” who has a Ph.D. in psychology. Yes, this is an odd picture, but that isn’t what I mean when I refer to “font psychology”. The crafting of fonts is, in itself, an art. When you read printed or digital words, you are looking at different font styles. Each font evokes an emotion and even associations to a particular era, culture, mindset, trend, etc.

As designers, we study fonts. We understand that we need to communicate information in a logical and non-cumbersome way. We want the right mood to be set for the particular piece. As designers, we are communicators. We help one entity communicate more effectively and concisely with another, and even to motivate them to move into action. During this process, we use a skill known as “typography”.

Why might someone not want to read further than the first page of a brochure or a website? Well, this is a very psychological question. :)  Take a look at the two (2) example paragraphs below, and decide for yourself which one is more pleasant to read:

“Example 1″ (E1) is dull. I would much rather read “Example 2″ (E2). In E1, my eyes and mind get tired not even half way through the paragraph. In E2, my eyes keep going and my mind keeps up much more easily right to the end.

When someone reads your brochure or website, do they just stop not even half way down the first page? Do they feel compelled to go even more in depth into your presentation to find out more about you, your product, or your service?

A couple of studies taken by Scientific American relating to the ease of reading depending on the font used can be found at: http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=a-recipe-for-motivation