musings

Friends Don't Let Friends Use Comic Sans

Tue, 03 Jul 2012 15:09:32 +0100

A friend wrote to me this morning and expressed chagrin when she realized that she nearly chose Comic Sans for a flyer she was putting together for her company. The company she works for doesn’t budget for a graphics expert to design their materials and has found itself, more than once, on the verge of a graphic faux pas because of it. Instead, they rely on the office staff to do their best in creating marketing materials for the business.

Fortunately, my friend is a good student and knew that it was downright wrong to choose Comic Sans. Here’s why:

It doesn’t look remotely professional. Even if you have a preschool, comic book store or other business which caters to youth, there is nothing funny about using Comic Sans. The casual feel of the lettering doesn’t contribute towards anyone taking your business seriously. Sending the message of friendly or fun can be accomplished with fonts which won’t compromise your professional stature.

It doesn’t match your logo. Your logo is the backbone of your visual communications, and if Comic Sans isn’t your logotype it should not be part of your marketing materials. Consistency with font choice is paramount in building your visual identity. Your logo designer would have specified which fonts to use with your logo when she created it, and she is counting on you to follow through with her advice.

It doesn’t convey the message you want to send. Are you trying to position yourself as an expert in your field? Do you want to look established and reliable? Comic Sans will not accomplish this. There’s a reason the biggest companies around use tried and true fonts like Times New Roman or Helvetica: they evoke a sense of familiarity and trust.

It’s hard to read. Especially when used in the body of your communications, decorative fonts are very hard to read. The irregularity of the letters and sometimes the kerning (spacing between them) is not easy on the eyes, particularly in the small size of paragraph text. I might issue a pass to use a decorative font sparingly for a headline, but only if the style of the font is appropriate for the message and your business.

It’s overused. Your neighbor just made an invitation to their backyard barbecue with Comic Sans. The girls down the street just used Comic Sans for their lemonade stand. You just passed a billboard with the slogan “Kars 4 Kids” in Comic Sans which suggests a child designed it. Forget the fact that Kars 4 Kids benefits children with cancer, which isn’t cute or comical. (Stay tuned for my rant on the intentional mis-spell for-the-sake-of-being-kute kraze!)

To be fair, Comic Sans isn’t the only font we should ban from business communications. The following also top the list:

Of course, there are many more fonts which are too decorative or stylized to be used for most business communications. There are also completely appropriate uses for the fonts listed here. In the course of writing this, I realize I have three examples of work on my website which utilize a banned font from the list above. But since choosing fonts isn’t always going to be left to the professionals, what can you do to make sure you don't commit a typographical sin?

Limit how many fonts you use in a single piece. Two fonts is probably the maximum you should use in a given piece. More than that make the content seem less cohesive.

Vary weights and size for variety. If using one font for the headline and one for the paragraph text seems boring or limiting, remember to use various sizes and versions of your fonts. Be intentional with which words you bold or italicize and consider how the reader will read them to make sure the message comes across as intended. Making headlines a bigger point size than the other text will guide the reader through the content.

Use fonts which have enough white space in the holes. Extra bold fonts like Compacta, where the eye of the letter e or the bowl of the letter o are proportionally small to the stroke, end up being difficult to read. While there is nothing wrong with bold headlines, make sure the font you choose has high readability. If you’re not sure, try squinting to check for clarity.

Stick with serif and sans serif fonts and avoid script. While I might use a well-placed script letter in a book design to begin a chapter, the use of fancy script should be avoided in business materials. If you must use script, never use all capital letters or attempt to place words in script around a circle.

Keep the genre consistent. If your company logotype is a clean, modern typeface, you’ll want to stick with that genre by choosing fonts that compliment it. Remember, your visual communication efforts should contribute towards your overall brand, and even Times New Roman can look stodgy next to Avant Garde.

With the big world of font selections pre-loaded on our computers, it can be tempting to want to try them all out, and I invite you to do just that. Type something beneath your logo and copy it with 10 different fonts, comparing them side by side. When you find the one or two which harmonize with your logo, use them consistently and you’ll look more professional with each marketing piece you create. Lastly, if you confess your typeface sins here, I will immediately reinstate your desktop publishing privileges.

To Discount or Not to Discount?

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 17:40:24 +0100

January and February are the slowest months in the fast food industry. Those darned New Year’s resolutions about battling the bulge always take a bite out of the junk food market. Their response? To lure customers back to their old habits by offering 99 cent items.

Discounts seem to be here to stay as evidenced by the popularity of Groupon-type marketing tactics, but is discounting your products or services a good idea for you?

First let’s look at the psychology of an incentive starting with motivation. There are two types of motivation: intrinsic, the type which comes from the inside and extrinsic, the type which comes with a reward attached. You might think, “But rewards work!” And yes, in the short term, rewards often succeed in buying temporary compliance. Many studies, however, have shown that over the long term, students learn better without grades, people work harder without bonuses and addicts can recover successfully when they are motivated by their own internal commitment.

I have two questions I like to ask myself when I consider using an incentive: “What is it I want this person to do?” and the more important question, “What do I want their reason to be for doing it?” The answer to the second question always makes me reconsider dangling the proverbial carrot.

A friend of mine, who is an independent baker, learned a tough lesson when she signed up to offer a Groupon. To her initial excitement, 500 people bought her deal for ½ off a cake or two dozen cookies. She had 500 people who had never heard of her, calling her to redeem their Groupon. Many placed their order and never came to pick it up, resulting in many baked goods being thrown away. Others bought the deal once, and moved on to the next good thing. Out of those 500 people, only three ever placed an order again.

I asked her if the amount she spent in time and giving fifty percent off her product was worth getting three customers who might become regular. She said absolutely not, that the experience nearly put her out of business.

What went wrong?

When people are deciding with whom they want to do business, they will choose the business which satisfies their criteria in the following areas:

Quality

Innovation (what you bring that’s unique to the table)

Service

Price

Of course criteria, such as location may be considered in the equation, but generally these are the areas your customers are evaluating when choosing to do business with you, or someone else.

I asked my friend what aspect of her business she believed most of her customers valued: is it price, quality, innovation or service? She ranked quality as number one, and innovation a close second. Her answer was congruent with her practice of using organic, seasonal ingredients and offering vegan options which everyone finds scrumptious. Then, we discussed why using discounts attracts a market who values price above all else.

By using discounts to attract customers, she wasn’t attracting clients who valued quality and innovation more than they valued a cheap price tag.

It’s not to say that we don’t all enjoy saving money. However, if we look at the types of motivation, intrinsic and extrinsic, one type of motivation begins to look much better than the other. The biggest problem I see with extrinsic motivators is that they actually erode your customer’s loyalty because they fail to help your customer develop an internal commitment to doing business with you when there’s no longer a payoff. In other words you may have to keep dangling that carrot. (See Punished by Rewards by Alfie Kohn)

Discounts can devalue your product or service in the mind of potential and existing customers.

I think it’s safe to say, that the regular fast food patron isn’t choosing the food for its quality, but more likely its price point and fast service. So I invite you to ask yourself, is your business the equivalent of a fast food operation within your industry? Do your customers value a low price above quality, innovation or service? Most clients to whom I pose this question say no.

If your customers’ top value isn’t price, then why use a marketing tactic which puts cost in the spotlight?

Let’s go back to the question, What do I want my prospect to do? Whether it’s “to try my bakery,” “sign up for my workshop” or “hire me to design a website,” remember to ask the question which explores the reasons you want your customers to do business with you. I am guessing they value the beautiful appearance and delicious flavor of the birthday cake you made. Perhaps they appreciate the actions they were inspired to take after attending your workshop. Or maybe they are grateful for the perfectly-matched clients who come their way after seeing the website you designed.

If someone asks why they should do business with you, you wouldn’t say, “Because I am going to give you such a deal!” Don’t let your marketing strategies send that message. I know you offer brilliant products or services, therefore I encourage you to use marketing strategies which illuminate the real reason folks should do business with you and leave the carrot dangling to those who want to attract the market segment which is always hungry for the latest and greatest deal.

It’s not too late to develop your 2012 marketing timeline. I can help you determine your customer’s values, evaluate where the channels of communication with your customers are flowing (and where they aren’t), brainstorm a wide variety of marketing strategies, organize them on a calendar so they actually happen, and even help you implement them through e-mail marketing, social networking, printed materials and signs. Together we can build marketing momentum.