How to Build Typography Standards That Prevent Confusion Later

Brand standards are important. The idea is that you’re creating a sense of rules about everything that is your brand like logos, images, type, writing tone, and anything else you can think of. From this set of rules, any new people who join the company should be able to use them to create whatever assets they need even if they had no prior knowledge of how the brand looks and sounds.

Anticipating a brand's future usage can be difficult. We’ve run into a situation ourselves where we want to make something and go to see what the brand standards say the rules are for this particular project…and they’re not there! Were they stolen by a cunning jewel thief? Unlikely. In reality we didn’t plan for this particular circumstance, and then we had to amend the brand standards with new rules.

That’s the tricky thing with brand standards. When you’re writing them, you’re trying to think of every possible contingency while being as specific as possible about the guidelines, but inevitably something comes up that you didn’t plan for. We may have written in a client’s brand standards that you have to use a primary logo on t-shirts, but alas, they’re making bucket hats for the company retreat.

The challenge with writing brand standards is to be specific enough to keep a brand consistent across different mediums but also strategically vague enough for the standards to be applied for the situation you haven’t thought of yet. You have to anticipate the fact that you’re not going to anticipate everything.

There are a few ways to plan for the unknown in brand standards. For this example, let’s examine typography.

Build a Typography System, Not Just Typography Rules

Typography rules are probably not going to be the same across the board. You’re more than likely going to use different fonts based on the medium you’re using, whether that’s a website banner or in-image copy for a social graphic.

That's why it's helpful to create a system where you know what style of headline to use in different situations. Say a client has the brand colors white, charcoal, gold, and turquoise. You should have a typography hierarchy in place for each acceptable background color. Maybe on white backgrounds, headlines are charcoal, sub-headlines are turquoise, and body copy is also charcoal. But then on charcoal backgrounds, headlines need to be white, sub-headlines are gold, and body copy is also white. Having a system like this in place should cover most of your bases. Most.

Then the client comes across a situation where they have to put their typography on a background that isn't one of their colors. And perhaps they're placing an ad on the outfield wall of a baseball stadium, but the team's eccentric owner demands that the entire wall still be green. No one knows why, but he's the eccentric billionaire and he gets to make the rules. That's why along with the specific rules you'd include with brand standards, include some more broad language. Maybe you have guidelines for what type to use on light backgrounds rather than dark backgrounds. You can also include some guidelines for what to do for non-brand color backgrounds.

Typography rules tell people what to do. A typography system helps them understand how to make decisions.

Instead of simply saying, “Use [Font A] for headlines and [Font B] for body copy,” establish principles for how typography should behave across different formats and situations.

A strong system can define:

• How typography creates hierarchy
• How sizes and spacing should scale
• When different weights should be used
• How typography should adapt across screen sizes
• What to do when brand fonts aren't available
• How accessibility affects typography
• When exceptions are acceptable

This gives teams a framework they can apply across digital, print, presentations, and social media without requiring a separate rule for every possible scenario.

Plan for Real-World Exceptions

Consider what happens when typography is placed over a dark or textured background. Or when a small-format printed piece requires a different approach to sizing and spacing. Large-format signage introduces viewing distance as another consideration.

Then there are technical limitations. A presentation platform or email system may not support your brand fonts. In those cases, teams shouldn't have to improvise. Define acceptable font substitutions and explain which characteristics—such as weight, proportions, and hierarchy—should be preserved.

Accessibility also needs to be part of the system from the beginning. Font size, contrast, line height, and spacing all affect readability and should inform how typography is applied.

Define the “Why”

One of the most valuable things a brand guide can provide is the reasoning behind its standards.

For example:

• Readability comes first. Typography should make information easy to understand before it tries to be expressive.
• Headlines should create a strong hierarchy. Primary messages should be immediately distinguishable from supporting information.
• Body copy should remain comfortable to read. Typography needs to work across different devices and viewing environments.
• Decorative fonts should be used sparingly. Personality is valuable, but clarity and consistency come first.

Take a look at that last example. Using words like “sparingly” to refer to decorative fonts is helpful because it gives a little bit more wiggle room than saying “decorative fonts should make up less than 5% of the words in an ad.” Adding the explanation, “Personality is valuable, but clarity and consistency come first,” gives the reader a more profound understanding of why they should or shouldn’t use decorative fonts, which helps them know how much “sparingly” is. “Have I used a decorative font to the point where it’s difficult to tell what the message is?" Oops, that’s probably a little more than sparingly. Better dial it back.

When you explain why a brand guideline rule is in place, the reader can then take that same logic and apply it to unanticipated situations. 

Consistency Doesn't Mean Uniformity

A website, billboard, social graphic, and presentation don't need to look identical. In fact, forcing them to follow the same typography rules can create a worse experience.

The goal is consistent principles, not that everything will look the same no matter what. Type sizes can change. Spacing can adapt. Fonts may occasionally need to be substituted. Layouts will respond to different environments.

What should remain consistent is the brand's visual hierarchy, readability standards, personality, and underlying logic. That's what makes a typography system resilient.

Choosing fonts is only the beginning. The real value comes from defining how those fonts should function—and giving your team the principles they need to make good decisions when the rules don't quite fit. The best typography guidelines don't try to anticipate every exception but instead prepare people to handle the exceptions that inevitably come.

Feel like your brand guidelines aren’t ensuring consistency? Or maybe they’re too rigid and your marketing materials are starting to feel samey? Then let’s talk about it. Fill out the form below and pay a visit to the labs.