Choosing brand typography: a guide for SMEs in 2026

Why typography matters so much

When people talk about visual identity, they think of the logo first. Yet while the logo appears only here and there, typography takes up 80% of your brand’s visible surface across every medium: website copy, presentation slides, email signature, stationery, product descriptions.

A well-chosen typeface strengthens your branding with every interaction, while poorly chosen typography dilutes your message. The ROI of good typography is huge, and underestimated.

This article explains how to choose a brand typeface that will last 5 to 10 years.

The standard typographic structure

An SME’s visual identity typically uses 2 fonts:

The heading font (display) is used for H1s, H2s and large headlines. It often has personality (geometric, modern serif, condensed, etc.).

The body text font (body) is used for long paragraphs. It must be readable above all (a simple sans-serif, a classic serif).

Sometimes 3 fonts: heading + body + monospace (for tech sites that show code). A fourth is too many.

Selection criteria

1. Readability

The body font must be readable at 16px on mobile and desktop. Test it on real paragraphs of 100 to 200 words, not on short slogans.

Test: take a random Wikipedia paragraph and set it in the candidate font. If your eyes tire within 20 seconds, it is not the right one.

2. Personality

The typeface must reflect your brand’s tone:

• Serious, classic: traditional serifs (Garamond, Caslon, Lyon)
• Modern, tech: geometric sans-serifs (Inter, Manrope, DM Sans)
• Premium, elegant: modern serifs (Söhne, Tiempos, Schibsted)
• Playful, creative: geometric humanist (Apercu, Söhne, Geist)
• Industrial, robust: condensed grotesque (Suisse Int’l, NB Architekt)

3. Character coverage

For the French-speaking Swiss market, the font must cover at least:

• French letters with accents (é, à, ù, ô, etc.)
• German characters (ä, ö, ü, ß) if you work in German
• Italian characters (à, è, ì, ò, ù) for Italian
• Standard English characters
• French punctuation (guillemets « », curly apostrophe ’, en dash –)

Test on https://specimen.co or directly in Figma with a text in several languages.

4. Styles and weights

A useful type family includes at least:

• Regular (400)
• Medium (500)
• Bold (700)

Ideally also:

• Light (300)
• Black (900)
• Italic for each weight

This range lets you create visual hierarchy without clutter.

5. Technical performance (web)

On the web, file size counts. A custom font at 200 KB per weight × 4 weights = 800 KB to load. That slows down your Lighthouse score.

Optimisations:

• Load only the characters you use (subsetting)
• WOFF2 format (better compressed)
• font-display: swap to avoid FOIT
• Self-host rather than use the Google Fonts CDN (in 2026)

Where to get fonts

Google Fonts (free)

Over 1,800 free, open-licensed fonts.

Google Fonts recommendations for 2026:

• Body: Inter, DM Sans, Manrope, Plus Jakarta Sans, Public Sans
• Display: Lora, Playfair Display, Fraunces, Bricolage Grotesque
• Monospace: JetBrains Mono, Geist Mono, Fira Code

Advantages: free, wide choice, easy integration, regular updates.

Drawbacks: everyone uses them (your brand lacks uniqueness), and the fine typographic quality is not always there.

Independent foundries (paid)

For a brand that wants to stand out, commercial fonts from independent foundries:

• Pangram Pangram: very much on trend in 2024 to 2026
• Klim Type Foundry: very high quality, from New Zealand
• Grilli Type: Swiss foundry, excellent value for money
• Indian Type Foundry: large catalogue, affordable prices
• Commercial Type: high-end, for premium brands

Licence costs range from CHF 100 to CHF 5,000 per weight, depending on the foundry and the use (desktop, web, app), and should be budgeted in the project.

Custom fonts

For large brands, the creation of a 100% custom typeface. Allow CHF 30,000 to CHF 150,000 and 4 to 8 months. Oversized for 99% of Swiss SMEs.

Font combinations

One family on its own, or two families together. Simple rules:

One family (recommended for SMEs): choose a family with several weights (Light, Regular, Bold, Black) and use it for headings and body text alike. Maximum simplicity, with hierarchy created through weights and sizes.

Two families: combine a serif (headings) + a sans-serif (body), or the reverse. A classic approach, but it takes care to choose families that complement each other.

Three families or more: to be avoided, too much visual noise.

Common mistakes

1. Choosing on gut feeling without testing. A font tested on a 3-word slogan and then on a 300-word paragraph gives opposite results. Always test on real content.
2. Ignoring licences. Using a font found for free on the internet that turns out to be pirated exposes you to legal action. Always check the licence (Google Fonts = SIL OFL = free to use, others = check).
3. Loading too many weights. Loading 8 weights + 8 italics = 1.5 MB of fonts. It kills your Lighthouse score. Load only the weights you use.
4. Mixing too many fonts. 3+ fonts together = noise. 1 or 2 at most.
5. Choosing a font that is hard to read. An elegant custom body font that tires the eyes after 1 paragraph is counterproductive.

Voren and typography

For its typography, Voren uses Schibsted Grotesk as a single family (headings + body). One family, 4 weights, enough for the brand’s entire hierarchy.

Why this choice:

• Excellent readability in body text
• A modern, clean personality in headings
• Full European character coverage
• Available on Google Fonts (free, self-hosted)
• WOFF2 format, good for performance

Going further

See the Visual identity service: typography included in every package.

Read our article on the colour palette: another structuring dimension of the identity.

Explore your project: see the full price for identity + logo.