What is the yellow font trend, and why is is all over TikTok?

Yellow text on Tiktok
(Image credit: Future)

TikTok trends can be hard to understand at the best of times, especially for those of us of a certain vintage. From hilarious car dealership ads to iPhone roasting, you never know what's going to get the kids going on the brain rot short-form content platform. So, what's big right now? A yellow font, apparently. (By the way, all of the best free fonts come in yellow.)

Right now, people are sharing long(ish) captions on the platform written in yellow. And, ignoring the first rule of writing—show, don't tell—they're adding the words 'yellow font' underneath. The videos are usually set to the track (You Made It Feel Like) Home, by Atticus Ross and Trent Reznor.

So, whats it all about? According to The Tab, the yellow font 'trend' simply means the user is sharing something emotionally vulnerable. As Know Your Meme puts it, "Yellow Font Theory refers to the idea that people use yellow font in their short-form video captions to signify that they're sharing an emotionally vulnerable statement or opinion with the world."

So there we have it. Yellow font = sharing something a little bit deep. But don't worry, most are using it irreverently. "As a meme, Yellow Font Theory is mostly used in an ironic capacity," adds Know Your Meme. "Some of the most popular examples of the meme feature yellow-font captions that are either emotional or ironically emotional, ending with the phrase, "Yellow font btw" or simply "yellow font.""

Like all TikTok trends, yellow font will likely be here today and gone tomorrow. But for our money, the greatest piece of font-related TikTok content will always be that video imagining various fonts hanging out.

Daniel John
Design Editor

Daniel John is Design Editor at Creative Bloq. He reports on the worlds of design, branding and lifestyle tech, and has covered several industry events including Milan Design Week, OFFF Barcelona and Adobe Max in Los Angeles. He has interviewed leaders and designers at brands including Apple, Microsoft and Adobe. Daniel's debut book of short stories and poems was published in 2018, and his comedy newsletter is a Substack Bestseller.

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