WEBVTT 00:00:00.240 --> 00:00:06.160 There's no shortage of sites and companies that try to draw you in with 00:00:04.080 --> 00:00:10.639 slickl looking graphics and marketing. Think of the casinos on the Las Vegas 00:00:08.160 --> 00:00:16.320 strip or Google's much discussed recent logo change or even the sign we put in 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 00:00:18.240 --> 00:00:25.600 degree. And the reasons for this go beyond the speculative research has 00:00:23.039 --> 00:00:30.880 indicated that fonts can actually affect our physical perceptions. One experiment 00:00:28.560 --> 00:00:35.920 involved serving identical jelly beans to two different groups labeled with the 00:00:33.040 --> 00:00:40.480 words eat me. However, eat me was printed in a rounded font for one group 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 00:00:42.559 --> 00:00:51.200 jagged font group perceived the jelly beans as quite a bit more sour than the 00:00:48.559 --> 00:00:55.680 other group due to the subconscious suggestion from the way the words were 00:00:54.000 --> 00:01:00.559 written. So, the reason that organizations all don't just use one 00:00:58.160 --> 00:01:05.439 plain readable font for everything like Helvetica or Ariel is because different 00:01:02.879 --> 00:01:10.159 fonts have a real power to make us feel certain ways and conjure up emotions 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 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 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 00:01:22.640 --> 00:01:29.920 perceptions of fonts that we develop over the years through a process called 00:01:27.119 --> 00:01:35.280 psychological priming, similar to how people form stereotypes and first 00:01:32.479 --> 00:01:40.479 impressions. For example, sand serif fonts have become much more common in 00:01:37.920 --> 00:01:44.960 modern life due to their widespread use on computer screens. A sans serif font, 00:01:43.439 --> 00:01:48.720 by the way, is anything that doesn't have seraps, which are those little 00:01:46.720 --> 00:01:53.920 lines at the edges of letters that make them easier to read on a printed page. 00:01:51.759 --> 00:01:59.200 But since monitors were actually lower resolution in terms of dots per inch 00:01:56.000 --> 00:02:01.040 than books or magazines for a long time, 00:01:59.200 --> 00:02:06.399 many websites and computer graphic designers used sand serif fonts as it 00:02:04.159 --> 00:02:12.000 was thought seraps would actually make text on lowres screens harder to read. 00:02:09.599 --> 00:02:17.599 Nowadays, with high-res HD displays, this was less of an issue. But Sanser's 00:02:14.800 --> 00:02:21.840 perception as modern and clean persisted, leading to it becoming a 00:02:19.840 --> 00:02:26.959 popular font style for startups and online businesses that want to appear 00:02:24.319 --> 00:02:31.599 current and forwardthinking. Sanser's simplicity has also made it a go-to for 00:02:29.360 --> 00:02:36.560 places that want to appear stable and professional. In fact, many people 00:02:33.680 --> 00:02:41.519 associate the sans serif font Helvetica with the IRS in the states since they 00:02:38.800 --> 00:02:46.480 use it heavily on their tax forms. Of course, on the flip side, its minimalism 00:02:43.519 --> 00:02:51.680 and popularity as a modern font back in the 1960s might explain why hipsters 00:02:49.519 --> 00:02:56.239 have taken to it so much. And speaking of hipsters, many fonts have fallen out 00:02:53.840 --> 00:03:01.599 of favor due to their overuse in certain applications. Comic Sands, for instance, 00:02:58.879 --> 00:03:07.120 was originally supposed to be just a fun font reminiscent of old comic books. 00:03:04.560 --> 00:03:12.560 Now, it draws tons of eye due to its association with tacky flyers for child- 00:03:10.400 --> 00:03:17.519 ccentric activities. Impact doesn't quite annoy people the way comic sands 00:03:14.879 --> 00:03:22.319 does, but with advice animal memes being as prevalent as they are, many places 00:03:19.599 --> 00:03:27.680 have started to shy away from using it due to the strong association with Bad 00:03:24.560 --> 00:03:30.159 Luck Brian and Insanity Wolf, which can 00:03:27.680 --> 00:03:34.159 make things seem less trustworthy. And while super tacky fonts like Papyrus 00:03:32.480 --> 00:03:39.680 don't usually have a lot of staying power due to things like restaurants 00:03:36.640 --> 00:03:43.360 massively overusing it, they can still 00:03:39.680 --> 00:03:46.640 be effective for building a cohesive 00:03:43.360 --> 00:03:48.959 brand identity. A commonly cited example 00:03:46.640 --> 00:03:54.720 for this is the famous Disney logo, which people recognize immediately 00:03:51.760 --> 00:03:59.040 despite the D and the Y not really looking how they're supposed to. 00:03:56.959 --> 00:04:04.400 Harderto- read fonts are even intentionally used by some restaurants 00:04:01.680 --> 00:04:10.080 and stores to suggest that something on sale is higher quality, and it took a 00:04:07.840 --> 00:04:14.159 lot of effort to make. And as marketing strategies and tastes continue to 00:04:11.920 --> 00:04:19.199 evolve, what kind of fonts strike us as fresh, trit, or even offensive are sure 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 00:04:20.720 --> 00:04:26.720 play it safe and use the affforementioned Helvetica, which was 00:04:24.560 --> 00:04:32.560 named after the Latin name for Switzerland because, well, you guessed 00:04:29.840 --> 00:04:37.360 it, it's neutrality. So, just like Switzerland, it stayed out of wars. 00:04:34.880 --> 00:04:42.320 Maybe using Helvetica can help you avoid conflict as well, unless someone who 00:04:39.759 --> 00:04:46.400 reads it had a traumatic experience with a bar of toolbar. With the linda.com 00:04:44.720 --> 00:04:51.040 membership, you can watch and learn from top experts who are passionate about 00:04:48.479 --> 00:04:55.360 teaching their subject. You can stream thousands of video courses on demand and 00:04:53.199 --> 00:04:58.320 learn on your own schedule at your own pace. I'm currently going through a 00:04:57.120 --> 00:05:03.040 photography course. It's going to take me forever, but that's fine. Browse each 00:05:00.560 --> 00:05:06.880 course transcript to follow along or skip to the answer or skip to a part of 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 00:05:08.479 --> 00:05:14.400 feature. Take notes as you go along or download tutorials to watch them on the 00:05:12.320 --> 00:05:17.919 go, including access on your iOS and Android device. Create and save 00:05:16.080 --> 00:05:21.680 playlists or courses that you want to learn along with your friends, 00:05:19.440 --> 00:05:25.280 colleagues, or even team members. All of that for a flat rate starting at just 00:05:23.440 --> 00:05:29.680 $25 a month. So whether you're looking to become an industry expert or just 00:05:27.919 --> 00:05:33.039 passionate about a hobby or just frankly want to learn something new, check out 00:05:31.280 --> 00:05:36.320 linda.com/techwiki and sign up for your free 10-day trial 00:05:34.720 --> 00:05:40.960 today. Thanks for watching, guys. If you liked it, like it. And maybe there's a 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 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 00:05:46.639 --> 00:05:51.919 all of our videos. And if you want to direct that future in some way, suggest 00:05:50.000 --> 00:05:55.680 a video for us down below. I'd love some suggestions for like the brain science 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 00:05:58.800 --> 00:06:03.520 fun font. Pretty sure it's not comic sands, though, so you're safe.