1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:06,160 There's no shortage of sites and companies that try to draw you in with 2 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:10,639 slickl looking graphics and marketing. Think of the casinos on the Las Vegas 3 00:00:08,160 --> 00:00:16,320 strip or Google's much discussed recent logo change or even the sign we put in 4 00:00:13,840 --> 00:00:20,560 our front lobby to try to make it look like we're a real company to some 5 00:00:18,240 --> 00:00:25,600 degree. And the reasons for this go beyond the speculative research has 6 00:00:23,039 --> 00:00:30,880 indicated that fonts can actually affect our physical perceptions. One experiment 7 00:00:28,560 --> 00:00:35,920 involved serving identical jelly beans to two different groups labeled with the 8 00:00:33,040 --> 00:00:40,480 words eat me. However, eat me was printed in a rounded font for one group 9 00:00:38,079 --> 00:00:45,360 and a jagged font for the other group. And it turned out that the people in the 10 00:00:42,559 --> 00:00:51,200 jagged font group perceived the jelly beans as quite a bit more sour than the 11 00:00:48,559 --> 00:00:55,680 other group due to the subconscious suggestion from the way the words were 12 00:00:54,000 --> 00:01:00,559 written. So, the reason that organizations all don't just use one 13 00:00:58,160 --> 00:01:05,439 plain readable font for everything like Helvetica or Ariel is because different 14 00:01:02,879 --> 00:01:10,159 fonts have a real power to make us feel certain ways and conjure up emotions 15 00:01:07,600 --> 00:01:15,280 that might make us more likely to spend our money if we're at a store or to feel 16 00:01:12,720 --> 00:01:20,640 a bit calmer if we're at the dentist or something. But how can mere letters on a 17 00:01:18,240 --> 00:01:24,640 page or a sign kick us right in the fields? A lot of this has to do with 18 00:01:22,640 --> 00:01:29,920 perceptions of fonts that we develop over the years through a process called 19 00:01:27,119 --> 00:01:35,280 psychological priming, similar to how people form stereotypes and first 20 00:01:32,479 --> 00:01:40,479 impressions. For example, sand serif fonts have become much more common in 21 00:01:37,920 --> 00:01:44,960 modern life due to their widespread use on computer screens. A sans serif font, 22 00:01:43,439 --> 00:01:48,720 by the way, is anything that doesn't have seraps, which are those little 23 00:01:46,720 --> 00:01:53,920 lines at the edges of letters that make them easier to read on a printed page. 24 00:01:51,759 --> 00:01:59,200 But since monitors were actually lower resolution in terms of dots per inch 25 00:01:56,000 --> 00:02:01,040 than books or magazines for a long time, 26 00:01:59,200 --> 00:02:06,399 many websites and computer graphic designers used sand serif fonts as it 27 00:02:04,159 --> 00:02:12,000 was thought seraps would actually make text on lowres screens harder to read. 28 00:02:09,599 --> 00:02:17,599 Nowadays, with high-res HD displays, this was less of an issue. But Sanser's 29 00:02:14,800 --> 00:02:21,840 perception as modern and clean persisted, leading to it becoming a 30 00:02:19,840 --> 00:02:26,959 popular font style for startups and online businesses that want to appear 31 00:02:24,319 --> 00:02:31,599 current and forwardthinking. Sanser's simplicity has also made it a go-to for 32 00:02:29,360 --> 00:02:36,560 places that want to appear stable and professional. In fact, many people 33 00:02:33,680 --> 00:02:41,519 associate the sans serif font Helvetica with the IRS in the states since they 34 00:02:38,800 --> 00:02:46,480 use it heavily on their tax forms. Of course, on the flip side, its minimalism 35 00:02:43,519 --> 00:02:51,680 and popularity as a modern font back in the 1960s might explain why hipsters 36 00:02:49,519 --> 00:02:56,239 have taken to it so much. And speaking of hipsters, many fonts have fallen out 37 00:02:53,840 --> 00:03:01,599 of favor due to their overuse in certain applications. Comic Sands, for instance, 38 00:02:58,879 --> 00:03:07,120 was originally supposed to be just a fun font reminiscent of old comic books. 39 00:03:04,560 --> 00:03:12,560 Now, it draws tons of eye due to its association with tacky flyers for child- 40 00:03:10,400 --> 00:03:17,519 ccentric activities. Impact doesn't quite annoy people the way comic sands 41 00:03:14,879 --> 00:03:22,319 does, but with advice animal memes being as prevalent as they are, many places 42 00:03:19,599 --> 00:03:27,680 have started to shy away from using it due to the strong association with Bad 43 00:03:24,560 --> 00:03:30,159 Luck Brian and Insanity Wolf, which can 44 00:03:27,680 --> 00:03:34,159 make things seem less trustworthy. And while super tacky fonts like Papyrus 45 00:03:32,480 --> 00:03:39,680 don't usually have a lot of staying power due to things like restaurants 46 00:03:36,640 --> 00:03:43,360 massively overusing it, they can still 47 00:03:39,680 --> 00:03:46,640 be effective for building a cohesive 48 00:03:43,360 --> 00:03:48,959 brand identity. A commonly cited example 49 00:03:46,640 --> 00:03:54,720 for this is the famous Disney logo, which people recognize immediately 50 00:03:51,760 --> 00:03:59,040 despite the D and the Y not really looking how they're supposed to. 51 00:03:56,959 --> 00:04:04,400 Harderto- read fonts are even intentionally used by some restaurants 52 00:04:01,680 --> 00:04:10,080 and stores to suggest that something on sale is higher quality, and it took a 53 00:04:07,840 --> 00:04:14,159 lot of effort to make. And as marketing strategies and tastes continue to 54 00:04:11,920 --> 00:04:19,199 evolve, what kind of fonts strike us as fresh, trit, or even offensive are sure 55 00:04:17,199 --> 00:04:22,639 to change as well. But if that's too much to keep up with, you can always 56 00:04:20,720 --> 00:04:26,720 play it safe and use the affforementioned Helvetica, which was 57 00:04:24,560 --> 00:04:32,560 named after the Latin name for Switzerland because, well, you guessed 58 00:04:29,840 --> 00:04:37,360 it, it's neutrality. So, just like Switzerland, it stayed out of wars. 59 00:04:34,880 --> 00:04:42,320 Maybe using Helvetica can help you avoid conflict as well, unless someone who 60 00:04:39,759 --> 00:04:46,400 reads it had a traumatic experience with a bar of toolbar. With the linda.com 61 00:04:44,720 --> 00:04:51,040 membership, you can watch and learn from top experts who are passionate about 62 00:04:48,479 --> 00:04:55,360 teaching their subject. You can stream thousands of video courses on demand and 63 00:04:53,199 --> 00:04:58,320 learn on your own schedule at your own pace. I'm currently going through a 64 00:04:57,120 --> 00:05:03,040 photography course. It's going to take me forever, but that's fine. Browse each 65 00:05:00,560 --> 00:05:06,880 course transcript to follow along or skip to the answer or skip to a part of 66 00:05:05,199 --> 00:05:10,400 video that you need to see again by looking at the text. It's a pretty sweet 67 00:05:08,479 --> 00:05:14,400 feature. Take notes as you go along or download tutorials to watch them on the 68 00:05:12,320 --> 00:05:17,919 go, including access on your iOS and Android device. Create and save 69 00:05:16,080 --> 00:05:21,680 playlists or courses that you want to learn along with your friends, 70 00:05:19,440 --> 00:05:25,280 colleagues, or even team members. All of that for a flat rate starting at just 71 00:05:23,440 --> 00:05:29,680 $25 a month. So whether you're looking to become an industry expert or just 72 00:05:27,919 --> 00:05:33,039 passionate about a hobby or just frankly want to learn something new, check out 73 00:05:31,280 --> 00:05:36,320 linda.com/techwiki and sign up for your free 10-day trial 74 00:05:34,720 --> 00:05:40,960 today. Thanks for watching, guys. If you liked it, like it. And maybe there's a 75 00:05:38,400 --> 00:05:45,120 font for the like symbol. I don't know. If you disliked it and you love Comic 76 00:05:43,199 --> 00:05:48,080 Sands, feel free to do that as well. Get subscribed so you can see the future of 77 00:05:46,639 --> 00:05:51,919 all of our videos. And if you want to direct that future in some way, suggest 78 00:05:50,000 --> 00:05:55,680 a video for us down below. I'd love some suggestions for like the brain science 79 00:05:54,160 --> 00:06:00,240 psychology side of things. I'm having a lot of fun with these videos. Also, check out Channel Super Fun. They have a 80 00:05:58,800 --> 00:06:03,520 fun font. Pretty sure it's not comic sands, though, so you're safe.