My client's kid pointed out my font choice was 'boring'

I was showing a branding draft to a client over video chat last week, and her 12-year-old son walked by. He looked at the screen and just said, 'That looks like my school worksheet.' He was talking about the body text, a simple sans serif I use a lot. It hit me that maybe I rely on it too much for everything. Now I'm stuck trying to find a more interesting font that still reads easy for their website. What's a good, clean serif that doesn't feel like homework?

3 comments

3 Comments

reeseanderson2mo ago

Have you looked at Merriweather? It's a serif font that feels warm and a bit more stylish than the usual ones, but it stays very readable on screens. That comment from a kid would stick with me too, they have a way of pointing out the obvious we miss. I get in the same kind of ruts with my own work materials. Sometimes you need that outside view to shake things up. Give it a try for body text and see if it keeps that clean feel without the school assignment vibe.

miles_jackson916d ago

100% agree on that kid comment thing. My niece told me my old website logo looked like a clipart from a 90s Word doc, and it stung because she was totally right. I've been stuck on the same boring fonts for years, just using whatever came free with my design program. Merriweather sounds like a good fix though, that warmth factor is exactly what I'm missing. Gonna try swapping it in for my body copy this weekend and see if it stops looking like I printed it off a library computer.

the_harper2mo ago

Yeah, that "school worksheet" feeling is exactly what you want to avoid. Merriweather is a solid pick because it has enough character to feel friendly, not sterile. Maybe pair it with a clean sans serif for headlines to keep the whole look fresh?