Typography Experimentation

I wanted to conduct a small experiment into the effectiveness of type in advertising. One widely used marketing technique is SALE banners, used by pretty much every retailer, and a quick google search shows that the type used within these banners are pretty consistent- a bold, sans serif style font with a red background, regardless of whether the font fits with the brand's visual identity or not.

I tried to use different fonts within a simple sale poster and judge the effectiveness of the posters. Clearly a few work better than others, and generally sans serif is the best way of conveying a message via print (physical and digital). However, there are certain alterations of the font definitely help in its effectiveness.

I decided to break down the reasoning behind this consistent typography using research found from secondary sources, using quotes as back-up.

Boldness
Boldness may have a more negative meaning. It may be made to mean ‘domineering’, ‘overbearing’.” (Van Leeuwen, 2006, pp. 148)

Simplicity
'If your message is direct and straightforward, use a rigid typeface without any ornaments (Li, 2009). The simplistic font will match the simplistic nature of the context — thus increasing fluency'

Bold
Oosterhout (2013) also found that uppercase letters are effective for “hero” brands that convey qualities related to energy, courageousness, and focus

Sans Serif

'Audiences perceive sans serif fonts as clean and simplistic in a modern way. They allow the message to speak for itself without hiding behind a façade—straight and to the point in an objective way. Sans serif fonts are typically used in digital design, so they carry a reputation for being contemporary and current no matter what decade you use them in'. (Gendelman,2015)

Putting this all together it seems that the aim of the sale banners is to be dominating and overbearing and powerful. Creating urgency and assertiveness within peoples subconscious to persuade them to buy, and buy fast.