How Letter Styles Work in Retail

Nothing in the design of a store should be left to chance. This includes the style and color of letters on signs and brands. The appeal that font design has on customers' perceptions and emotions must be considered.

ShopRite - Clark, NJ - by Off The Wall

The right font conveys a store's personality, creates a specific atmosphere, improves readability, and engages customers.

McCaffrey's - West Windsor, NJ - by Off The Wall

Knowing which font to use and where takes years of experience. By working with various fonts and examining how they blend with all the other signage in a store, Off The Wall can help companies make more informed decisions to evoke specific emotions or reactions from their target audience.

ShopRite - Clark, NJ - by Off The Wall

For example, a luxury brand might use an elegant serif font to convey sophistication. At the same time, another retail situation might opt for a clean, sans-serif font to project innovation. 

Shoe Station - various locations

In a retail space, not only are the products competing for the customers' attention, but various departments are, too. Once shoppers have checked an item off their lists, they look for the next one. Or they could be reminded of something they hadn't thought of by an attention-grabbing font between points on their itinerary.

ShopRite - Clark, NJ - by Off The Wall

A designer can use fonts to create a specific ambiance in a store or a particular department. A playful font might create a fun and inviting atmosphere for one store area, while a more serious font might be used in another. One reason for switching it up is that some signs work psychologically. Others need to be more functional: a bold font might be used to highlight a sale, while a more playful font might be used to promote a product that stands out to a different need. 

Seasons - Tom's River, NJ

Off Wall has nearly 50 years of experience and everything required to design and fabricate, an infinite number of shapes and colors to thousands of font choices. And then efficiently install everything we make.

Here are more resources on the fascinating topic of fonts:

Designmodo explains the psychology of fonts and how they evoke different emotions, and Envato shares tips on choosing fonts that evoke emotion.