Email fonts are the typefaces used in an email, including the primary font you specify and the fallbacks that appear when a client cannot load your first choice. Fonts influence readability, brand consistency, and perceived quality, but email imposes stricter constraints than the web.
What Makes Fonts Tricky in Email
Unlike a website, many inboxes do not support loading custom font files. That means most emails rely on web safe fonts and a careful fallback stack. Fonts also interact with email CSS because some styling and spacing is applied through CSS, and CSS support varies by client.
Choosing a Font Stack That Holds Up
If you use different font weights, verify that the fallback family has comparable weights available, or headings can look unexpectedly thin or heavy. Also watch for special characters and diacritics. A stack that looks fine in English can break spacing or render fallback glyphs in other languages.
A practical approach is to pick a primary font and then list similar fallbacks by category, such as a sans-serif stack. Your stack should prioritize consistency in width and x-height so line breaks do not shift dramatically between clients. If typography is central to the design, align choices with readable typography goals so the email remains comfortable to scan on mobile and desktop.
Testing Fonts Where It Matters
Pay attention to where typography affects layout logic, such as navigation-like headers, price rows, and buttons. A small width difference can push a button label onto two lines. If you notice wrapping changes, adjust padding and line height rather than forcing fixed widths that can fail in strict clients.
Font behavior can change spacing, button alignment, and wrapping in unexpected ways. Test in representative clients and devices, especially if your layouts are dense or column-based. The objective is not perfection everywhere, but predictable behavior where your audience is concentrated.
Email Fonts and Topol
Topol helps teams build emails with typography that stays consistent across clients by encouraging safe font choices and reusable patterns. Learn more at Topol or create an account at Topol signup.