Use the right type for the right type
Simon Marett and Michael Sullivan’s ‘Essential Guide to Design’ continues with a look into typography and the difference it can make to doctors’ branding, design and marketing.
Fonts and typefaces are often used interchangeably, but on a technical design level, there is a difference.
Typeface is a particular alphabet set and its corresponding accessories such as numerals and punctuation that share a common design. For example, Arial is a well-known typeface and the font is a specific set of glyphs within a typeface, such as Arial Bold or Light.
Not unlike colour that we covered last month, typography often gets neglected in design because of a lack of awareness and an understanding of the impact it can make to your healthcare practice.
Here are some key pointers to think about:
1 Know who your patients are
We have touched on this point before in previous articles, but it is important to re-emphasise it because it is one of the fundamental rules of marketing and design.
Putting your personal opinions to one side and getting a good understanding of who your patients and potential customers are and what will appeal to them is a vital step in the process.
For example, you might really like the look of the Comic Sans typeface, but if you are opening a high-end women’s health clinic in west London, then this comic style typeface is not going to be a good or requisite fit for your premium practice and affluent audience.
You need to go back to the drawing board with your team or designer and look at a selection of typefaces that will work well and appeal to your audience.
Top Tip: Pick two or three typefaces that you think will work and then conduct a quick market survey with a handful of patients to get a steer on which they prefer. This is a good indicator of what might appeal to future patients and help your practice grow.
2 Use a framework for your typefaces
Once you have selected a handful of typefaces you think will work for your practice, the next step is to get a framework in place that will help you decide what typefaces and fonts you use throughout your marketing and branding.
For private healthcare practices, consistency in branding is vital because you are operating in premium markets and precision of marketing execution is expected. A brand will be devalued if it is chopping and changing its typography and colour palette every month.
Remember, when you are using typography on your website or on a brochure or advert, there is often more than one typeface and font in play.
You will need to think about headlines, sub-headers, standfirsts, bullet points and body copy and when and where you might want to use bold, semi-bold, light or italics.
Top Tip: It is often a good idea to select a unique, headline typeface that stands out and grabs people’s attention. The headline has two roles to play: to grab the attention of the reader and to communicate key information on the page, so using a font that stands out is important.
3 Serif and sans-serif fonts
You might have heard about serif and sans serif typefaces and you will experience them every day in newspapers and websites that you read.
Serif typefaces have semi-structural details or decorative flourishes on the ends of some of the strokes that make up letters and symbols.
Times New Roman and Courier are two common styles of serif fonts. Sans serif does not have these details or flourishes and common examples would be the Arial or Helvetica font.
So, which do you use for your healthcare practice? With thousands of typefaces available, there are no hard and fast rules and there has been a long-running debate in the design world about which is easier to read.
Sans serif is often viewed as being more modern but more difficult to read in body copy, while serif fonts can be viewed as old-fashioned.
Ultimately, it comes down to the individual practice brand, patients and personal preference. Whatever you decide, you will not want to change your guidelines frequently, so working with a recommended designer or agency is a good first step to get you up and running.
Top Tip: Ask your designer to create a short set of brand guidelines with some recommendations on blends of serif and sans serif typefaces that can work for your practice.
As a bare minimum, they should cover your logo, headlines and body copy and they should look consistent and work together as a family.
4 Digital first, print second
Years ago, printed items such as brochures, business cards and flyers would have taken the lead on a clinic’s design and branding.
Fast forward to 2021 and we live in a digital-first world where the majority of a patient’s experience with a healthcare practice is online and more likely on a mobile phone.
It is therefore vital to think about how typography is going to work on your core communication channels and touchpoints such as your website, emails and social media.
Your website is going to need to be easy to read, so breaking up large blocks of body copy into digestible chunks of information with different colours and weights of type is a great starting point.
Top Tip: Pulling out key statistics or testimonials into break-out boxes is a good tactic to employ to make a website easier to read. Try sampling different typefaces, weights and fonts to make the key information you want to communicate stand out.
As with colour, the world of typography and design is a complex one and there are some key points to consider when working on your healthcare practice brand.
Try involving your patients before making big design decisions to verify your preferences and test different typefaces, fonts, sizes and weightings to find a blend that works.
Consistent execution of logo, colour and typography over time are one of the keys to a successful healthcare brand and therefore a branding framework is always recommended.
You can do this yourself, but it is often best to work with a recommended designer or marketing agency with a track record of doing this with other healthcare clients.
They will have experience of working with typography before and will help you avoid pitfalls, expensive mistakes and save you time money and effort in the long run.
Simon Marett (left) is director of Ellerton Marketing, and Michael Sullivan (right) is creative director of Ellerton Marketing and Forty6 Design