Thinking About Font Review: A Playful Display Typeface for Joyful Branding
Last week I found myself sitting on the floor of my small studio, surrounded by kraft paper boxes, tissue paper samples, and a stack of thank-you cards that were supposed to have been printed two days earlier. I run a small handmade candle business out of my home, and I was in the middle of refreshing our entire packaging line. The labels looked fine, but fine wasn't going to cut it anymore. I needed something that captured the personality of the brand, that made people smile when they opened their package, that felt like us. That is when I started looking more seriously at display fonts and came across a typeface called Thinking About. From the first glance, I knew this was the direction I had been searching for.
Using Thinking About for Whimsical Product Labels and Packaging Design
When I first tested Thinking About on a mock-up of my candle labels, I immediately noticed how the playful letterforms changed the entire mood of the packaging. This is not a font that fades into the background. It is a vibrant display font that commands attention while still feeling warm and approachable. The whimsical charm of each character brings a sense of joy that is hard to find in more rigid or corporate typefaces. For small businesses that sell physical products, the label is often the first tangible interaction a customer has with the brand. If you are selling bath salts, soy candles, artisan soap, or small-batch food items, using a display font like Thinking About on your product labels instantly communicates that your brand is creative, thoughtful, and not afraid to have a little fun. I tested it on a soy candle label with a simple white background, and the contrast was striking. The font became the hero of the design without needing any extra ornamentation. It works beautifully for product names, scent titles, or short descriptive phrases. Keep in mind that this is a display typeface, so it is best suited for short bursts of text on labels, not full ingredient lists. Pair it with a simple sans serif for the fine print, and you have a label that feels both professional and delightfully unique.
Building a Cohesive Brand Identity with Thinking About Across Print and Digital
One of the biggest challenges I have faced as a small business owner is maintaining a consistent look across everything from my website to my business cards to my Instagram feed. Inconsistent typography is one of the quickest ways to make a brand look amateurish. When I started integrating Thinking About into my brand materials, I was surprised at how easily it tied everything together. This font has a strong personality, but it is versatile enough to work across different mediums. I used it on my new business cards for the brand name, and the response from customers at a local market was immediate. Several people commented on how the cards looked like they came from a boutique studio. I also updated my thank-you cards, which now feature a large Thinking About headline that reads simply "thank you" in bold, whimsical lettering. The same font now appears on my website banner, my packaging inserts, and even on my shipping labels in a smaller, carefully sized format. Consistency builds trust, and using the same playful display font across all customer touchpoints makes the brand feel intentional and polished. If you are a boutique owner, a café owner, or a product creator looking to elevate your visual identity, choosing a single display font that captures your brand voice is one of the smartest design decisions you can make. Thinking About has become the anchor of my visual identity, and it has made every new piece of collateral easier to design because the foundation is already there.
Thinking About for Social Media Graphics and Online Shop Visuals
Social media is where most of my customers discover my brand, and I have learned the hard way that a busy, cluttered graphic does not stop the scroll. Clean, bold typography does. I started using Thinking About for my Instagram story titles, promotional posts, and product launch announcements. The font's fun and funky elements work especially well for seasonal promotions, limited edition drops, and any content where I want to communicate excitement or happiness. For example, I created a simple graphic for a Valentine's Day collection with the words "love notes" set in Thinking About, and it performed significantly better than my previous graphics that used a more generic script font. The unique character shapes catch the eye without looking messy. On my online shop, I use the font for product section headers and sale banners. It helps customers immediately identify the tone of the brand before they even read the product descriptions. If you sell handmade goods, vintage clothing, art prints, or specialty food items, this font can help your online shop feel more curated and memorable. Just be careful with sizing on mobile screens. Because this is a display font with playful proportions, it works best at larger sizes for headlines and titles rather than for body copy or long product descriptions. For mobile-friendly shop graphics, keep your text short and let the font do the work.
Font Pairing Ideas to Complement Thinking About's Playful Display Style
No single font should have to carry an entire brand alone, and finding the right partner for Thinking About was essential for creating balanced, readable materials. In my experience, this typeface pairs beautifully with clean, minimal sans serif fonts. A simple geometric sans serif like Montserrat or Proxima Nova provides a calm counterpoint to the playful energy of Thinking About. I use a light weight sans serif for all my ingredient lists, shipping information, and website body copy, while reserving Thinking About for headings, logos, and accent phrases. Another pairing that works surprisingly well is a classic serif font for an elegant, editorial feel. If your brand leans more sophisticated but still wants a touch of whimsy, try combining Thinking About with a refined serif like Playfair Display or Lora. The contrast between the structured serif and the free-spirited display font creates a visual tension that feels curated and modern. I do not recommend pairing this font with another highly decorative or script typeface, as the result can feel chaotic and hard to read. Keep one voice loud and playful, and let the other voice stay quiet and supportive. Testing your pairings on actual mock-ups, whether that is a product label, a website hero section, or a business card, will help you see how the fonts work together in real world applications. Good font pairing is about balance, and Thinking About works best when it is allowed to be the star.
Commercial Licensing and File Formats for Thinking About in Business Projects
Before you start using Thinking About on your products, packaging, or digital designs, it is important to understand the licensing terms and file format options. As a small business owner, I have made the mistake of assuming a font was free for commercial use only to have to redo an entire set of labels later. When you purchase a premium font like Thinking About for commercial work, you are investing in the quality and legality of your branding. Most commercial licenses cover use on physical products, packaging, and digital graphics for your business. However, if you plan to use the font on merchandise that you sell, templates that you distribute, or client projects if you are a designer, double check the specific licensing agreement. File format is another consideration. For print projects like labels and business cards, OpenType or TrueType formats are standard and work well with most design software. If you are using the font for web design or digital ads, make sure you have the appropriate web font license or that you are comfortable using the font in image-based graphics. Thinking About typically comes with standard character sets, but if you need multilingual support or special alternates, check what is included before you commit. Taking five minutes to read the licensing details will save you hours of rework and ensure that your beautiful new packaging or social media graphics are fully compliant. I always save my license confirmation alongside the font files so I have easy access if a platform or printer asks for proof.
After a few weeks of using Thinking About across my entire brand, from candle labels to Instagram templates to thank-you cards, I can honestly say it has brought a new level of joy and consistency to my small business. The font does not just look pretty, it communicates who I am as a maker before a customer even reads a single product detail. If you are ready to give your brand a voice that feels playful, happy, and unmistakably yours, this display font is absolutely worth trying on your next project. Start with one piece of collateral, maybe a product label or a social media graphic, and see how the whimsical charm of Thinking About transforms the way your customers see your work.
