Fonts. We've all heard of them. Some of us even know what they are. For those who were not paying attention in College Fonts 101, fonts are typefaces. Even if your reading mostly consists of silly tweets and obnoxious Facebook posts, you're going to use fonts. A font is what you see when you look at words on a page or a computer screen. People love fonts. This is particularly true of those who have really bad handwriting. Fonts are pretty much everywhere. Walk down a subway station and you'll immediately see signs in a specific font.

A font does a few things: 

  • conveys information
  • indicates style 
  • pleases the eye

Buying Fonts

Most people have access to multiple types of fonts already. Open a file and you'll find an endless array of choices. However, sometimes you have to buy a font. You might want to add something special to your marketing plans for that new business. Fonts can be eye-catching and fun. People tend to notice fonts that stand out. If you've looked at the cost of fonts, you may have come across this one. It's called Lexicon. At almost five thousand dollars, it's many things but it's not cheap. If you're still thinking about using it, there are some reasons you probably shouldn't.

You want to get noticed but that not that much notice. 

Standing out is fine. Standing out in a crowd can be fabulous. If you're applying for a job, you want your resume to get noticed and get you an interview. If you're selling a new product, you want to capture the public's attention. But there's a point where standing out isn't so good. You want to get attention. You don't want to be the guy who forgot to put enough gas in his car before he went down the ALCAN highway. When you're trying to communicate to others in writing, you're doing something very special. You have never met this person. They don't know who you are and they may not even care. You want to tell them something. Maybe it's something funny or charming or really important like that fact that they left the car alarm on while they went on vacation and now all the neighbors want to find and kill them.  

Talk Without Shouting

When you write, you want the focus on your writing to be on your writing. You want people to notice what you have to stay and understand your words. A really expensive font may get in the way of that attempt. Fonts with special characters and flourishes tend to cause people to notice the font. When they pay attention to the font, they are not paying attention to you and your message. They are noticing your funny font. This is not how you propose to your girlfriend. It's not how you let your landlord know you've bought a house and you hate your old apartment so you're leaving. An expensive font can get in the way of real communication between you and the reader. Stick the ordinary font. You'll get noticed for what you're saying not what you're typing.