What Are the Best Fonts for Labels?

You finally have it: the perfect logo. You’ve put in countless hours into tweaking every color and perfecting every line. But there’s still one choice that threatens to make-or-break everything:
The font.
A font can be a tricky thing. It needs to be eye-catching, but legible. Your eyes shouldn’t glaze over it, but it shouldn’t distract. It needs to be readable at a glance—but still pop. If it feels like a high-wire juggling act, that’s because it is.
And it’s worth getting it right! Font psychology finds that everything from letter spacing to letter shape affects customer perception of your brand. If you nail it, you’ll have an iconic logo. And you can keep using that logo time and time again to make more sales. (After all, how much does Coca-Cola love that initial investment they made into their signature “cursive” font?)
Choosing the right font is both a science and an art, and it requires a healthy balance of both. Some of the best fonts to use for labels include:
- Georgia
- Garamond
- Open Sans
- Helvetica
- Arial
Keep reading to explore how you can pick the font that makes sense for the kind of customers you want to attract.
What Makes a Font “Readable”?
The best fonts for labels have to be easy to read, or else there’s not much point. So, let’s dive into the elements of a readable font:
5 Highly Legible Fonts for Your Labels
Once you have an idea of what you want your font to look like, it’s time to narrow it down. Let’s get specific with some of the most popular, legible font choices and explore the positives of each. Remember, you should be creative when it comes to your brand logo and font. It’s only the smaller, granular text areas that should always be in more legible fonts. When it comes to strong branding, every choice counts!

Georgia. Georgia is a type of sans serif font that has a “classic” look to it—use all capital letters and it already reads like a label. It’s especially good at evoking that sense of “classic” flavor. The bolder you go, the more confident it looks.

Garamond. Garamond is popular in printing books, a fact that attests to its basic readability. It’s also light, a little on the thin side, with plenty of empty space. It’s generally better for an elegant touch, which is excellent if you sell a premium product or want to emphasize the upscale nature of your offerings.

Open Sans. Open Sans is plain, simple, clear, and incredibly popular. The professional crispness and legibility make this a perfect font for small text on “everyday” brands. Certainly, a font to keep in your back pocket.

Helvetica. Helvetica is bold, strong, and has a modern look to it that’s ideal for showing off revolutionary, new products. Helvetica was specifically crafted for signage, which is why it works so well with large labels, advertisements, flyers, and just about anything that needs a nice, clear, neutral tone.

Arial. Arial is one of the most prominent fonts on the web, and for obvious reasons. It offers stark clarity even when you’re looking at small letters on a screen. That said, Arial uses “mirrored character,” meaning symbols like q and p are mirror images of the same shape. While that makes the font more consistent, it can sometimes cause issues for customers with reading disorders.
Making the Most of Your Fonts
These fonts are tried and true, a good starting place—but they may not be your final destination. Choosing a font style is just the beginning, you also need to consider the other elements that make for cohesive branding.
Of course, all that work will go to waste if you don’t put your new design to use. Stomp’s nifty design tool and near-instant proofs will make sure your custom labels are the best around.
- Nashira Edmiston