A client in Portland said my font choices looked 'too safe'

I was showing a branding draft to a new client for her coffee shop, and she pointed at the header and body text. She said, 'This feels like a bank, not a place that sells oat milk lattes.' It made me realize I default to clean, modern sans-serifs too often. Has anyone else had a client push them to get more playful with their pairings?

3 comments

3 Comments

milam421mo ago

Honestly, maybe we should just start using Comic Sans for coffee shops and get it over with. Tbh, a client once told me my logo looked like it was for a spreadsheet.

grant_torres1mo ago

I saw a bakery last week using Papyrus, which felt like the same surrender. @milam42, your client's spreadsheet comment hits a real nerve because so much branding now just looks like generic office templates. It's like we've traded personality for something that just feels safe and clean.

skylerr231mo ago

Ugh, that's the worst feeling. Honestly, @grant_torres is right about everything looking like office stuff now, but I wonder if the real problem is we're scared of picking a font with any flavor at all. We go from one basic sans-serif to another, skipping everything in the middle that could actually work. Like, there are so many friendly serifs or rounded sans-serifs that aren't crazy but still feel warm. Tbh, maybe we need to stop treating "playful" like it only means weird handwritten fonts, and just find something that doesn't feel like it came on a default phone.