Fonts That Fit: Building a Font System for Your Brand
A creative guide to choosing the right fonts for your brand (without the overwhelm)
Fonts aren’t just design fluff — they’re a key part of your visual identity. A good font system makes your brand feel cohesive, polished, and intentional across everything you create.
Just like your color palette, your brand fonts create emotional impact and help people instantly recognize your business. In this guide, I’ll walk you through how to choose fonts that feel like you, work across all platforms, and create visual consistency throughout your brand.
Before we get into the fun stuff, Let’s clear up the lingo.
A few typography terms that get used interchangeably (but are actually different):
Typeface: A family of fonts (e.g., Helvetica).
Font: A specific version of a typeface, with specified weight and size (e.g., Helvetica Bold 12pt).
Typography: The art and technique of arranging type (how you use fonts in a design).
Type: A general term for text and letterforms.
Most people use font to mean any type of text style — and that’s okay! But understanding these distinctions helps when you’re talking with a designer or choosing licensed fonts.
What to Consider Before You Pick Your Fonts
💬 1. What Do You Want Your Brand to Say?
Choose fonts that match your brand’s personality. Fonts aren’t just letters — they carry emotional tone and personality. The styles you choose shape how people feel about your brand before they read a single word. Here’s what different styles often communicate:
Serif Fonts (e.g., Playfair Display, Cormorant): traditional, trustworthy, elegant, academic
Sans Serif Fonts (e.g., Montserrat, Lato): modern, clean, approachable, tech-savvy
Script Fonts (e.g., Dancing Script, Great Vibes): feminine, creative, personal, whimsical
Display Fonts (e.g., Cinzel Decorative, Abril Fatface): bold, eye-catching, great for logos and titles
Pick fonts that align with your brand voice — are you cozy and whimsical or sleek and minimalist?
🌟 2. Prioritize Readability First
Before you choose fonts that are stylish or trendy, choose ones that are clear and easy to read.
No matter how beautiful your branding is, if people have to squint to read it, they’ll scroll right past.
Look for:
Clean letter shapes with open spacing
Good legibility at small sizes (especially for mobile)
Simple, flexible fonts for long paragraphs and captions
Rule of thumb: If you wouldn’t read a whole blog post in it, it’s probably not a good paragraph font.
🔤 3. Use Contrast To Create Balance
Great font systems are cohesive with just enough variation between each font to make them distinct. Contrast creates clarity and hierarchy.
A few ways to create contrast:
Serif vs. Sans Serif: Mixing serif (fonts with “feet” like Times New Roman) and sans serif (fonts without feet like Arial) creates a clear distinction
Size: Vary font sizes to help different sections stand out without needing a new font
Font Weight: Use bold vs. light to break up content and highlight key info
Letter Spacing (Tracking): Looser spacing can make all-caps or subheadings feel more open
Capitalization: The same typeface in all caps vs. all lowercase creates unity and contrast
Italics: Use sparingly for callouts or emphasis
Contrast doesn’t mean chaos — it means clarity. Choose one or two ways to create contrast and stick to them consistently.
Create contrast between your heading and body fonts by choosing two different fonts. Then, create hierarchy within these categories by using weight, size, and spacing to create structure and style without overcomplicating things.
🌐 4. Choose Fonts That Work Everywhere
Stick with fonts that are:
Available in Squarespace and Canva
Free to use via Google Fonts
Web-safe and easy to embed on your site
This ensures your brand looks the same no matter where it shows up — from Instagram posts to business cards to your website.
At the end of this article, you will find a list of my favorite font pairings available on Squarespace, Canva, and Google Fonts.
How to Build Your Brand Font System
Now that you’ve thought through personality, contrast, and compatibility, let’s break down the pieces of a cohesive font system.
🖋 Your Logo Font: Make It Unique
Your logo font should be one-of-a-kind. It’s the star of the show — it doesn't need to be super readable in paragraph text, just memorable and brand-appropriate. It’s okay if it’s a little bold or decorative — this is the statement piece of your brand.
Pro Tip: Don’t reuse your logo font for headings or body text. Let it stand alone to keep your system clean and consistent.
🧱 Heading Fonts: Build a Visual Hierarchy
Use font weight, size, and spacing to create variation within your heading system. Just one typeface (like Raleway or Montserrat) can give you a whole range of styles.
Choose 3–4 styles or weights for your headings. You can play with:
Bold vs. light
Tight vs. loose spacing
Size contrast between levels
Contrast helps your content feel organized and intentional. Your goal is to guide the eye and create structure without making it feel cluttered or disconnected.
📚 Paragraph Fonts: Keep It Clear
For your body text, choose 2–3 variations. Prioritize legibility above all — choose fonts that are easy and comfortable to read at small sizes and in long blocks of text.
You don’t need three different paragraph fonts. Instead, create subtle variations within the same font by using:
Weight (e.g regular vs. bold)
Slightly different sizes
Letter spacing
Careful line spacing
Italics
Be consistent in how you apply these variations.
Tips:
Avoid anything too decorative or compressed
Make sure they work well with your headings
Choose fonts that look good on mobile and desktop
My Favorite Font Pairings (That Work Across Platforms)
These pairings are stylish, accessible, and available in Squarespace, Canva, and Google Fonts — perfect for DIYers and pro designers alike:
There’s the graphic, but here’s the list:
Tenor Sans + Cormorant Garamond
Marcellus + Crimson Pro
Oswald + Lato
Tenor Sans + Raleway
Bebas Neue + Montserrat
Julius Sans One + Quattrocento
Cormorant Garamond + Khula
Oranienbaum + Open Sans
Yeseva One + Nunito
Prata + Lora
Playfair Display + Montserrat
Cinzel + Quattrocento
Final Thoughts
Fonts are so much more than just words on a page — they’re part of your visual language. The right choices can help you show up consistently, confidently, and with a brand that feels like you.
And if the process still feels like too much? That’s where I come in. Let’s make your brand beautiful, cohesive, and totally on point — fonts and all.
Need help finding your perfect font combo? I offer custom font curation as part of my brand design packages.
