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Give thought to fonts when putting together direct mail pieces

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We recently wrote about the importance of sending direct mail pieces to your customers – those you have and ones you would like to get.

One thing we didn’t discuss was choosing the right font for those mailers, including newsletters. While you should be more familiar with your audience than anyone else, read on for a little advice about making the right impression.

Know your customers?

Yes, we said this should be your strength. But just how well do you know this group? Fonts are incredibly important and can make a difference between making the right and wrong impression. If you’re putting out a kindergarten newsletter, Comic Sans is acceptable. But not if you’re a financial advisor. If you want to be taken seriously, consider Garamond, a serif font, or Helvetica, a commonly used sans serif that’s clean and easy to read.

Shall we serif?

Serif fonts have decorative lines or tapers (also referred to as “tails” or “feet”) while sans serif fonts don’t. If you’re going for a traditional look and feel in your designs (think law firm), you’re going to want to go the serif route. Times New Roman or Georgia are good examples. If your brand is more youthful, sans serif fonts can feel much more approachable than their more corporate serif counterparts. Popular sans serif fonts include Proxima Nova and Futura.

But can they read it?

Your message is lost if the font is a mess. That’s a good reason to stay away from cursives unless it’s an expectation from your audience. There’s nothing wrong with playing it safe with Arial, the aforementioned Helvetica or Verdana in your mailers or newsletters. Your message isn’t complete until you’ve paired it with a readable font.

West Press’ talented staff is here to help you each step of the way as you create your printed or e-newsletter. We offer graphic design, printing and mailing services and website development. Contact West Press or your Account Executive at 520-624-4939 today.