How to Choose Font for Graphic Design For Packaging

Posted by A. Ayaz on October 26th, 2019

How to Choose Font for Graphic Design?

Graphic designers know that there are fonts that are simply not used.

Packaging design is closely related to branding, delivery and distribution management. These are crucial business points. Nevertheless, we often forget that there are many other things to consider. One of these elements is the font used in the packaging industry.

Comic Sans

In an article on the worst mistakes that can be made in the design of a package, we mentioned a specific concept that ruffles any graphic designer.

When talking about fonts, it's impossible to avoid the notorious font Comic Sans. That's it, the culprit of all evils in graphic design. But, to talk about packaging policies, we can not limit ourselves to: avoid Comic Sans at all costs. Even if it's the base!

So, in this article, we:

1. We will provide some great fonts for your box design
2. Listerons resources that offer thousands of free fonts
3. We will explain why Comic Sans and Papyrus are the worst nightmares of a graphic designer, especially for packaging industry.

Microsoft is Entering History

This infamous font was introduced in 1994, as part of the Microsoft Word set of Windows 95. The creator of Comic Sans is Vincent Connare, a typographer and graphic designer, who has great experience with comic strip graphics. The initial reaction was a disaster.

Comic Sans was badly messed up, disorganized and seemed to be a cuscus reference to the comic strip style. Surprisingly, Microsoft did not remove this font but continued to support it in future versions of Windows and Word.

Quickly, Comic Sans has become a nightmare for anyone with a little taste for design. Then, the mockery did not stop there either - here is a "reinvention" of international logos with Comic Sans. Not only has Comic Sans prevailed so far but in addition, it has made tragic appearances. One of these appearances was on a print version of the Wall Street Journal. See the image below.

A Brother of the Comic Sans - Papyrus

Another example: all the promotional materials used for ... "Avatar", the movie of James Cameron. The font used in the posters and the main visuals was Papyrus. It's not about Comic Sans but it's also about her and ... it's very recent.

It was the result of a skit on Saturday Night Live (an American comedy show) that mocked the use of Papyrus. Subsequently, the mockery took gargantuan dimensions and the creator of this police even had to comment on his work (link in English). His comment ? "Papyrus is ... overexploited".

You may be wondering why we mention fonts in packaging. Does it really matter?

A font can really change a lot of things in any design. There are thousands of fonts and each can be used to create an extremely unique brand design. With contemporary fonts, others with calligraphic inspiration or with more atypical forms, each font permeates every work or design of its soul.

So when you choose a font, it is highly recommended to set the "mood" of your brand. For example, if you are minimalist and upscale, better not to use a brushstroke font. Ideally, it would take a classic and elegant style.

Moon

Free Serif is a class of more elegant and classic fonts. For example, Moon designed by Jack Harvatt is rounded at the edges, delicate and ideal for a natural print.

Reis

If you want to have a "poster" spirit for your image, try Reis. This font is inspired by brushstrokes and offers innovation and freshness to any design. An urban legend says it's a big favorite among graphic designers.

Yellowtail

Fonts that are close to manual writing are also popular. Yellowtail, supported by Google, is an excellent choice to emulate a small handwritten word printed inside the package.

Selima Free

This font can be especially handy when used as a logotype. It has a modern brush stroke side - so, it's ideal for a black print on a natural cardboard.

Polya

Each letter of this font is complex. It is an ideal choice to create a logo and print it directly on your custom boxes. Here, a success that will mark the spirits.

Where Can We Find Great Fonts?

There are many sites that offer free font libraries. In addition, we have added good places to learn more about how to use fonts.

DaFont

It's a huge (ever-growing) bookstore with fonts around the world. In addition, the navigation is simple thanks to a well organized classification. You can find fonts in categories like "Script", "Foreign Look" or even "Gothic".

DaFont is a great place to start defining your company logo. Then, it is also very simple to install the font of your choice.

1001 Fonts

Another excellent bookseller. On the other hand, the categories differ a little from DaFont. 1001 Fonts will be a better choice for graphic designers and artists.

Font Space

The last time we went, FontSpace had over 36,000 fonts. In addition, the site offers a blog about design, which can help you choose your ideal font. The navigation system is very complex but it allows you to find things more niche.

Creative Bloq

That's the bible of any graphic artist. Creative Bloq has written a lot of content on the font choice but their best article to start is this in-depth look at the 75 best fonts for graphic artists .

Awwawards

This site offers trophies for the most innovative and practical police creations of the Internet. Awwawards also has a free font gallery, which you can find here .

Conclusion

There is a very good reason why Comic Sans is the most hated font (and why you will not find it in our online publisher).

In addition, there are many great online font libraries, which can really brighten up any packaging design. If you choose a font as well, download our pre-cut template and add it to your design. Make your custom boxes breathe creativity!