Customized fonts for Squarespace Emails - is it possible?

I was recently asked the question above by someone from a small design agency.

The answer is short and not so sweet - NO.

You cannot directly upload and use custom fonts within Squarespace email campaigns.

But let’s dig a little deeper and explore why this is the case, and what options you do have.

Why Can't You Use Custom Fonts in Squarespace Emails?

Squarespace, while offering beautiful website design options, takes a more conservative approach to email. The platform, quite rightly in my opinion, prioritizes reliability and accessibility over complex visual customisations.

This is because email clients are notoriously inconsistent in how they render different design elements, and custom fonts often cause display issues.

If you are using custom fonts, there is a high risk that a significant proportion of your recipients might not see your email as you intended, might see a broken layout, or might not even receive it at all because it has been marked as spam.

Using web safe fonts eliminates these concerns, ensuring your emails are consistently rendered across all major email clients.

Other Services Allow Customised Fonts in Emails

Custom fonts in emails are supported by some large providers such as HubSpot and Mailchimp, as well as numerous other services including Klaviyo, Omnisend, and Emma. These platforms often use more sophisticated code structures and may offer workarounds to embed custom fonts.

However, even these services strongly recommend only using "web safe" fonts for optimal deliverability and consistent display.

The Risks of Using Custom Fonts in Emails

While the temptation to use your brand's custom font in emails is understandable, it's important to be aware of the potential downsides:

1. Limited Support Across Major Clients: It's crucial to understand that the lack of custom font support isn't isolated to just one provider. Gmail, Outlook (various versions, especially on Windows), and Yahoo Mail all have inconsistent or no support for custom fonts. This means your chosen font could be replaced by a fallback on many inboxes.

2. Display Issues: If an email client doesn't support your custom font, it will likely revert to a default font, potentially ruining your intended design and even making the email difficult to read.

3. Inconsistency: Your emails may appear differently across various devices and email providers, creating a fragmented brand experience.

4. Accessibility: Custom fonts can sometimes interfere with screen readers, making your content inaccessible to people with visual impairments.

5. Deliverability: In some cases, email clients may flag emails with overly complex coding (often used to embed custom fonts) as spam, preventing them from reaching recipients entirely.

Over 30% Of Email Clients Don't Support Custom Fonts

While exact percentages can vary, industry reports and analyses consistently show that over 30% of email opens happen on email clients that have limited or no support for custom fonts.

Considering the inconsistent support for custom fonts across major email providers, sticking to web-safe fonts becomes crucial for ensuring a consistent user experience.

So, What Can You Do?

While direct custom font upload isn’t an option, you can still achieve a strong brand look in your Squarespace emails:

• Use Web Safe Fonts Strategically: Choose a web safe font that closely aligns with your brand's personality and use it consistently in your emails.

• Brand Colours: Make good use of your brand colours for headings, text, and buttons to reinforce your visual identity.

• Compelling Imagery: Use high-quality, branded images and graphics to create visually appealing emails.

• Consider a Font Pairing: Use a heading font and body font, to add a subtle level of design sophistication. Consider using Google fonts to inform your web safe selection.

• Prioritize Content Hierarchy: Use font sizes and styling to create a clear visual hierarchy that guides the reader.

What’s a Web Safe Font?

There’s a set of fonts that are universally supported by all web browsers and the vast majority of mail clients. You can confidently use them, knowing that everyone who sees your emails will see the email as you intended. These fonts are typically pre-installed on most devices and are designed to render reliably across different systems.

Here are the common web safe fonts:

Serif: Times New Roman, Georgia, Palatino, Book Antiqua

Sans-serif: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, Tahoma, Trebuchet MS,

Calibri, Segoe UI

Monospace: Courier New, Lucida Console