Presentation design is crucial. Today there’s hardly a person who’d say otherwise. Without a good PowerPoint design, it’s impossible to get your points across.
If you’re reading this article, that tells us one of two things,
You have a presentation deck that needs designing
You’re curious about PowerPoint & best design practices
In both cases, this article will help you learn about the best fonts for presentation design. Also, the importance of typography.
Speaking of typography, consider it to be the most essential element of PowerPoint presentation design. The logic is simple. Want to make sure your audience retains most of the information? Then use the right fonts in your presentation design.
But, before we get into the best fonts for presentations, let’s look at what typography is.
What is Typography?
Typography is the art of arranging fonts in a visual form that makes sense to human readers. The word comes from the Greek word “typos”, which means “a shaping or molding”.
Typography refers to the way in which letters and characters are arranged on a page or screen. It’s one of the components that determine how readable a piece of text is.
Why is typography important?
Typography is crucial for presentation design because it,
Holds the audience’s attention
Conveys mood or feelings
Establishes information hierarchy
Reflects professionalism
Builds brand recognition
List of best fonts for PowerPoint presentation design.
As a presentation design agency, we’re always experimenting with various fonts, their usage, psychology & business context. Here’s a consolidated list of the best fonts for PowerPoint presentations.
You’ll love them in your next PowerPoint presentation.
1. Montserrat
A geometric sans-serif typeface that celebrates a special style of underlining that is integrated into the letterforms found in the Montserrat neighborhood of Buenos Aires. Montserrat has subtle optical adjustments, which resulted in a sans serif family with multiple versions and multiple possibilities, both in the editorial and corporate realm.
Usage,
Montserrat is best used in sophisticated messaging structures. For example, IT companies & management consulting firms. So, you can use Montserrat in business presentations & corporate-looking decks.
2. Raleway
Raleway is an elegant sans-serif typeface family. Initially designed by Matt McInerney as a single thin weight, it was expanded into a 9-weight family by Pablo Impallari and Rodrigo Fuenzalida in 2012 and iKerned by Igino Marini. A thorough review and italic were added in 2016.
Usage,
Brands that wish to gain their audience’s trust use Raleway as the primary font. For example, insurance companies & financial advisors. You can use Raleway in company profiles & sales presentations.
3. Playfair Display
Playfair is a transitional design. In the European Enlightenment in the late 18th century, broad nib quills were replaced by pointed steel pens as the popular writing tool of the day. Together with developments in printing technology, ink, and paper making, it became to print letterforms of high contrast and delicate hairlines that were increasingly detached from the written letterforms.
Usage,
Playfair display is mostly used by luxury brands. For example, luxury spas & hotel chains. Feel free to use Playfair Display in presentations to attract project investments like luxury real estate.
4. Glacial Indifference
Glacial Indifference is an open-source typeface with inspirations from Bauhaus geometric fonts.
Usage,
Glacial indifference is best to showcase a trendy look and modernity. For example, digital marketing & design agencies. Using glacial indifference in startup & Saas pitch decks is a great idea.
5. Tiro Gurmukhi
Tiro Gurmukhi has its origins in a typeface designed for the Murty Classical Library of India book series, so is especially suited to traditional literary publishing but also made with the needs of today’s multiple prints and screen media in mind. The design reintroduces the stroke modulation of traditional Punjabi manuscript styles that is absent from the monolinear typefaces that became conventional for the script in the 20th Century. This gives Tiro Gurmukhi a strong traditional flavor while also something fresh in the context of modern typography.
Tiro Gurmukhi was designed by John Hudson and Fiona Ross. The italic was adapted by Paul Hansol.
Usage,
Tiro Gurmukhi is an ethnic & exotic font. For example, foreign export items & antiques. Use this font if your presentation is about diversity, ethnicity, etc.
6. Assistant
Assistant is a Hebrew and Latin type family, with a contemporary sans serif Hebrew design. The family contains 6 upright styles, from ExtraLight to Black.
Hebrew type family was designed by Ben Nathan, to complement the Latin Source Sans Pro that was designed by Paul Hunt at Adobe Type. The Assistant project is led by Ben Nathan, a type designer based in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Usage,
Assistant is best used for purposeful brands. For example, biodegradable & sustainability brands. Use this font if your presentation is about sustainability, integrity & accessibility.
7. Oswald
Oswald is a reworking of the classic style historically represented by the ‘Alternate Gothic’ sans serif typefaces. The characters of Oswald were initially re-drawn and reformed to better fit the pixel grid of standard digital screens. Oswald is designed to be used freely across the internet by web browsers on desktop computers, laptops, and mobile devices.
Usage,
Oswald is ideal for traditional business models that have existed for a long time. For example, historians, archaeologists & scientists. It’s ideal for historical & scientific conference presentations.
8. Ubuntu
The Ubuntu Font Family is a set of matching new libre/open fonts in development during 2010–2011. The development is being funded by Canonical Ltd on behalf of the wider Free Software community and the Ubuntu project. The technical font design work and implementation are being undertaken by Dalton Maag.
The scope of the Ubuntu Font Family includes all the languages used by the various Ubuntu users around the world in tune with Ubuntu’s philosophy which states that every user should be able to use their software in the language of their choice. So the Ubuntu Font Family project will be extended to cover many more written languages.
Usage,
Ubuntu can be categorized into tech font. For example, tech startups, cryptocurrency & web development agencies. You can use Ubuntu to explain complex tech concepts & animated presentations.
9. Roboto
Roboto has a dual nature. It has a mechanical skeleton and the forms are largely geometric. At the same time, the font features friendly and open curves. While some grotesks distort their letterforms to force a rigid rhythm, Roboto doesn’t compromise, allowing letters to be settled into their natural width. This makes for a more natural reading rhythm more commonly found in humanist and serif types.
Usage,
Roboto is a modern font. For example, startups and modern ideas. You can use Roboto in a startup pitch deck or investor presentation.
10. Aileron
Aileron is a sans-serif font that adds my own interpretation with reference to a typeface classified as Neo-Grotesque including Helvetica.
In order to make it easy to distinguish it from the capital letter “I”, we made the letter of the lowercase letter “l” curved at the end portion as a slight adjustment for the text.
In addition, the dot part of, such as “i” and “j” or period in a circle, is the curved portion clothoid curve. By performing the process was conscious, was to get an overall soft impression. It is close to Helvetica in terms of design, but rather conceptually it is closer to Univers.
Usage,
Aileron is a regular & invisible messaging font. For example, corporate decks & business presentations. You can use Aileron in your regular client presentations as it doesn't attract too much attention.
Font information source: Google Fonts
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