First: A Whimsical Handwritten Font for Playful Branding Projects
Opening the Brand Board: First Makes a Strong First Impression
It was one of those early mornings where the blank brand board feels heavier than a Monday meeting. I was working on a local bakery’s rebrand—think warm pastels, hand-drawn illustrations, and a vibe that says “fresh out of the oven, every day.” I dropped in a few font options, and when I typed out the bakery’s name in First, something clicked. The letters felt like they were written with a brush pen, slightly bouncy, with just enough irregularity to feel human. It wasn’t perfect in a sterile way—it was perfect in a “this was made with care” kind of way.
What Is First? A Closer Look at the Typeface
First is a script font in the Script Amp category, designed to mimic the organic flow of real handwriting. It’s not a stiff, formal script. Instead, it leans into a playful, casual personality with exaggerated strokes and a slightly uneven baseline. The font has a strong personality—think of it as the friend who always doodles in the margins of their notes. It’s ideal for projects that benefit from a personal, handmade feel, and it shines in branding that wants to feel approachable and authentic.
From a design standpoint, First balances legibility with charm. The letters aren’t overly connected, which helps readability at a glance. It includes a set of alternates and ligatures that add visual interest without being distracting. I found the swashes particularly useful when designing the bakery’s packaging—they gave the product labels a boutique-level finish without looking overdone.
Testing First Across Branding Touchpoints
I tested First across multiple design deliverables: logo concepts, brand boards, packaging mockups, business cards, website headers, and social media layouts. Here’s what I found:
- Logo Design: Perfect for a logo that needs to feel warm and welcoming. I used it in a stacked layout for the bakery’s name, and it read well even at a small size on printed menus.
- Brand Identity: Paired with a soft sans serif like Quicksand or Work Sans, First became the emotional anchor of the brand system. It worked beautifully in color swatches, pattern elements, and social media highlights.
- Packaging Design: On a mockup of cookie boxes and mugs, the font gave a sense of craft and care. It looked especially good on kraft paper and pastel backgrounds.
- Business Cards: Used for the business name and tagline, it added personality without sacrificing professionalism.
- Website Headers: In a hero section, it added a friendly, approachable tone. I used it at a larger size with a clean background to let it shine.
- Social Media Graphics: Whether in Instagram stories or Pinterest pins, First made the visuals feel more personal and less like stock templates.
When First Works Best—and When It Doesn’t
First is best suited as a display font, headline font, or logo font. It’s expressive and has a strong visual presence, which makes it ideal for short phrases, titles, and accents. It’s not recommended for long body text or small-size applications like footnotes or captions. In print, it works beautifully on signage, product labels, and packaging, but I wouldn’t use it for technical documentation or formal reports.
I also noticed that while First has a whimsical charm, it may not be the right fit for more formal or corporate branding. A law firm or financial services brand would likely find it too casual. But for a boutique, café, handmade shop, or creative studio? It’s a perfect match.
Font Pairing Tips: Finding the Right Balance
One of the most important things when using a playful font like First is balance. I paired it with a clean, modern sans serif for body text and subheadings. The contrast helped create a strong visual hierarchy while keeping the overall design grounded. For a more vintage or artisanal feel, pairing it with a serif like Playfair Display or another script font for accents can work beautifully.
If you’re using First in a web project, make sure to test the webfont performance. Load times and rendering can vary, so it’s always a good idea to preview it live before finalizing your design system.
Practical Considerations Before Using First
Before locking in First for client work or commercial use, there are a few practical steps to take:
- Check Licensing: Make sure the font license covers commercial use, especially for branding, packaging, merchandise, or digital products.
- Test Across Sizes: Preview the font at different sizes—especially if it will be used on packaging or signage.
- Review Included Styles: Check for alternates, ligatures, and swashes that might enhance your design.
- Verify Multilingual Support: If your project includes non-English text, confirm the font covers necessary characters.
- Test in Different Contexts: Try it on mockups, print proofs, and live web previews to see how it behaves in real-world conditions.
As with any premium font, it’s worth investing time to explore all its features and limitations before committing to it in a final deliverable.
