Mid-year sale season is here. Brands everywhere are putting out posters, banners, and social media graphics to push their promos — and honestly? Most of them look the same. Bright red background, random bold font, giant “50% OFF” text, and a visual that screams I made this in 10 minutes.
Here’s the thing: a sale doesn’t have to look cheap just because the price is low. The difference between a poster that builds desire and one that just looks desperate? Almost always comes down to the font.
Let’s break it down.
When someone scrolls past your poster, they’re not consciously reading it — they’re feeling it. Your font sends a signal before a single word is processed.
A poorly chosen font says: this brand doesn’t really care about how they look. A well-chosen font says: this brand is worth paying attention to.
Your discount might be real, but if the typography looks thrown together, customers will unconsciously trust the brand less. And a brand they trust less? They buy from less.
Good news: you don’t need a design degree to get this right. You just need to know which fonts to reach for.
This is the “50% OFF” or “MID-YEAR SALE” text. It needs to stop the scroll. It needs to feel big, confident, and fit the personality of your brand.
What to avoid: generic bold fonts with no character (you know the ones). They work, but they’re forgettable.
What works: display fonts with strong personality — something retro, chunky, or editorial. Fonts that feel like they were designed for this moment.
From Burntilldead, we recommend:
This handles the details: dates, terms, product names, store info. It needs to be clean and legible, even at small sizes.
What to avoid: using the same display font for everything. It creates visual noise and makes your poster exhausting to read.
What works: a clean sans-serif or a simple serif that complements — not competes with — your headline font.
From Burntilldead, we recommend:
Sometimes you want one extra element — a price callout, a “limited time only” tag, a handwritten-feel detail. This is where an accent font comes in. Use it sparingly: one or two words, max.
From Burntilldead, we recommend:
Rule 1: Maximum two fonts per poster. Headline + supporting. That’s it. The accent font is optional and should be used for one element only. More than two fonts = visual chaos.
Rule 2: Let the headline breathe. Give your main text generous spacing. Cramped text feels desperate. Text with room to breathe feels confident.
Rule 3: Don’t let color do all the work. Bright red and yellow will grab attention, but if the font is weak, the poster still looks cheap. Let your typography carry as much weight as your color.
Rule 4: Test it at thumbnail size. Your poster will be seen on phone screens, in Instagram feeds, on small digital banners. If the font isn’t readable at 200px wide, it’s the wrong font.
A sale is an opportunity to not only move product — it’s an opportunity to show people what your brand is made of. The brands that look good even during a discount period are the ones people come back to after the sale ends.
Typography is one of the most powerful tools you have to make that happen. Choose it intentionally.
Ready to find the right font for your next sale poster? Browse the full collection — including Bengil Whisper, Glofium, Khedelic, and more — at burntilldead.studio
