Short fonts are closer to the ground, so they feel more stable. Short Fonts Convey Heaviness and Stabilityįont height resembles gravity. Medium weights were most readable (Luckiesh & Moss, 1940). Researchers displayed the word “Memphis” in different font weights to determine the optimal readability.
148)īold fonts also seem masculine because of their resemblance to a bulky stature (Lieven et al., 2015). It may be made to mean ‘domineering’, ‘overbearing’.
Boldness may have a more negative meaning. 208) Bold Fonts Are Powerful and Masculineīold fonts seem extreme: Bold can be made to mean ‘daring’, ‘assertive’, or ‘solid’ and ‘substantial’, for instance, and its opposite can be made to mean ‘timid’, or ‘insubstantial’. Seeing these traits in a font will activate your concept of beauty: Typefaces that are lighter in weight (in width and stroke thickness) are seen as delicate, gentle, and feminine, while heavier typefaces are strong, aggressive, and masculine. In most countries, the “standard” for beauty is tall and thin. You also experience spreading activation: Activating a concept will activate all concepts that are connected to it (Collins & Loftus, 1975).
Spreading ActivationĪll concepts are connected to related concepts.įor example, your node for “toothpaste” is connected to floss, mouthwash, and everything else that you associate with toothpaste. If you want more details on the underlying mechanisms, you can refer to my book The Tangled Mind. That’s how fonts (and other stimuli) acquire meaning. …dissimilar experiences will weaken connections.…similar experiences will strengthen connections.Seeing a font (e.g., Fraktur) will activate its past meaning - including the semantic meaning (e.g., Nazi Germany) and emotional meaning (e.g., disgust).Īnd you constantly update fonts in your brain. government since it is used by the IRS on tax forms. Fonts also activate past experience: The typeface Fraktur has many associations with Nazi Germany, and Helvetica is commonly associated with the U.S.
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