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Home , Optima, Type foundry

BY ILENE STRIZVER

M A D E E A SY Finding online can be a time-intensive and frustrating endeavor. Here, expert Ilene Strizver provides an overview of various websites and offers tips to make choosing fonts easy and fun.

If you’ve searched the web for just the right , you MYFONTS know you have countless options. How many? Ten www.myfonts.com thousand? Thirty thousand? Try 55,000+, with new MyFonts offers thousands of fonts from many found- ones popping up online every day. These fonts consist ries and designers. Although somewhat cartoonish in of original designs, historic revivals and inter- design, the site is professional, uncluttered, easy to pretations (and reinterpretations), as well as added navigate and extremely robust. weights and different versions of existing designs. An important element in selecting a typeface in the This can make selecting a typeface overwhelming. digital age is the ability to set words in a font at varying To complicate things, you have to wade through a sizes within the foundry’s website. This is especially multitude of font foundries and distributors whose helpful for display usage for which sharpness is less of a primary marketing tool is the web. The font libraries problem onscreen. TestDrive is MyFonts’ try-out utility. of these foundries and distributors change constantly; TestDrive allows you to set the text of your choice in so do their sites as they redesign and add new tools any size and type style onscreen. You can even compare and features. two type styles at a time, which is a real timesaver. We’ve done a survey of typographic websites and MyFonts has a powerful search engine at the top of broken them down by size and library in an attempt to every . In addition, fonts are indexed by foundry, make font selection easier and more efficient for you. category (also known as classification) and designer. The site has five discussion forums, including one on font identification. WhatTheFont is MyFonts’ fully Large Foundries automated font identifier; when you upload a scanned FONT SELECTION image of several letters, it compares your sample to a and Distributors database and sends you a match in seconds. This group offers the largest number of fonts, usually from a variety of foundries and designers. Site features FONTS.COM such as font try-out utilities, typeface search applica- www.fonts.com tions, font identifiers and specimen materials vary Fonts.com from Inc. (formerly Agfa from site to site. This can make font selection exciting Monotype) is a font provider with a long pedigree. The or painful. site began by offering the Agfa font collection along with Additional site features meant to entice, inform and the highly esteemed Monotype Library. It now includes entertain can include informational content, e-news- the ITC typeface library (acquired in 2000) as well as letters, forums, best-seller lists, pricing specials—and a growing collection of from other designers occasionally, free fonts. Most sites offer immediate and foundries, both large and small. Fonts.com is one of downloads and tech support. the few sites to offer free catalogs of its complete library.

104 • FEBRUARY 2005 WWW.HOWDESIGN.COM This is an invaluable courtesy in a world where printed “world-class fonts from internationally renowned found- materials are dwindling due to their high cost. ries, award-winning type designers, and distinguished This site has downloadable PDF specimens for design studios.” Although the type library web page is a new releases and is backfilling the ITC and Monotype little difficult to find amidst Adobe’s software products, libraries. The company also has two newsletters, one you’ll find that it’s an excellent resource for technical electronic and one print, announcing new releases and historical information. The site is somewhat corpo- and pricing specials. But Fonts.com’s most notable rate in design and a bit tedious to navigate, but there’s a feature is the content. There’s an abundance of articles lot there if you take the time to go through it. about typefaces, type history, professional , The 300-page Reference Guide is one designer and foundry profiles, book reviews, type trad- of the best type catalogs around. Available from the ing cards and the history of the alphabet. Adobe Store for $25, it makes a valuable addition to any type-reference library. Adobe also has excellent PDF THE LINOTYPE LIBRARY specimen materials for fonts that include a full www.linotype.com complement—important for an OpenType font. Other The Linotype Library has been around for more than resources on the site include a 20-page font primer 100 years and is known for its professional, high-qual- PDF that covers typographic terminology and concepts, ity typefaces. Many of the most well-respected design- character access charts and font embedding. ers have contributed to the library, including and Adrian . The Linotype Library con- ITC FONTS tinues releasing top quality, innovative new designs, as www.itcfonts.com well as refining and expanding Linotype classics such ITC Fonts is the online store for International Type- as Neue , Nova and Next. face Corp., the legendary type foundry that led the The site is clean, simple and fairly easy to navigate pack in typeface design 30 years ago. It’s still going with most of the features accessible from the home strong, offering a balanced mix of classic and con- page. The Linotype site has extensive search features, temporary text and display designs, including a large with more than 200 search words to help you navigate collection of calligraphic and handwriting fonts. The the library. The Font Lounge lists hundreds of design- search engine links to partner site Fonts.com, which ers with links to their typefaces. Linotype also offers offers convenient access to thousands more fonts. pixel fonts for digital or screen design. The ITC Fonts site is also the home to Upper and Lower Case Magazine, which features archived ADOBE TYPE LIBRARY articles, designer profiles and the For Your Typographic www.adobe.com Information series. Type trading cards and ITC clas- The Adobe Type Library bills itself as a source for sics are also available.

WWW.HOWDESIGN.COM HOW • 105 FONTHAUS sible search words and categories, and customizable www.fonthaus.com type samples. FontShop offers many fonts rarely found FontHaus offers name-brand fonts from some of the on other sites, which makes for a diverse international top foundries in addition to its own collection. The collection. Read the clever typographic musings of newly redesigned site is stylish, organized and intui- Erik Spiekermann (as well as other contributors) in the tive—“easy-in, easy-find, easy-out,” as they say. online Font Magazine. The site also has a type glossary The FontHaus site has extensive search options at the and some excellent suggested links. FontBook, the top of every page. FontHaus offers a Top 50 Best Seller 1,500-page type reference book of thousands of type list as well as a Top 10 Per Foundry list. The top of the samples, is pricey at $99, but well worth it. home page has a Big Type Sample in a variety of fonts that rotate with a click. The seductive, large displays and PHIL’S FONTS the simplicity of the operation make it addictive. www.philsfonts.com The company’s online magazine, x-height, features Phil’s Fonts is a distributor offering fonts from more than articles about fonts, , designers and tech- 75 foundries worldwide. The site is simple and easy to nology, all written by industry experts. In addition, navigate, but there’s not a lot of content or features. FontHaus offers clip art, illustrations and stock pho- Phil’s Fonts’ online magazine, WIT, has some interesting tography, which makes for convenient one-stop shop- interviews, typeface histories and articles. The site also ping. This site is fun to use. offers an FAQ page and a list of useful links.

FONTSHOP VEER www.fontshop.com www.veer.com This is a great source for every taste bud. The site, Veer is a relative newcomer to the font business, but which is clever, robust and European in flavor, con- has lots to offer. Although Veer is primarily known tains all the necessary features, including easily acces- for graphics products, check out this stylish, well-

HAPPY HUNTING: FONT-SELECTION TIPS

Take advantage of keyword searches to narrow type libraries. In other instances, the font might be a your hunt. Sometimes you know the name of the different version or interpretation of the same type 1 typeface you’re looking for, but other times you style. You’ll often find this with fonts such as only know the style, personality or category. In other and . words, your design solution hinges on one of those “I’ll know it when I see it” fonts. Many foundries have Take advantage of the freebies. Sign up for e- powerful keyword search capabilities to help you newsletters to keep abreast of new releases, find what you’re looking for. The search words vary 4specials and other valuable information. If your by foundry and can include general categories such inbox gets flooded, you can always unsubscribe. Order as , sans, decorative, calligraphic or condensed. every free print catalog and brochure available. More detailed categories include stencil, grunge and futuristic. Application search categories can include Download PDF specimens and print them out. invitations, posters, book text, time periods and styles You can organize them by foundry and category such as western, medieval and Art Deco. 5to create your own specimen books. Why? Print specimen materials are becoming scarce due to the Ask foundries for help with font identification. high cost. PDFs are the next best thing, especially for Did you ever see a typeface in an ad or a logo text faces. Print specimens on a laser printer to get 2that you want to use, but you don’t know the the best representation of the typeface. Inkjet printers name? A number of foundries offer font-identifica- tend to distort spacing and make type look heavier. tion services. Some are automated: You answer sev- eral questions or e-mail a scan, and a list of possible Don’t be afraid to try OpenType fonts. They’re matches comes up in seconds. Others offer a custom becoming increasingly available from found- service, where you fax or mail the sample to the found- 6ries (in some cases, OpenType is the only for- ry’s staff, who will try to identify the font. Generally, mat available). With its cross-platform capability and these services are free. expanded character set, OpenType is on its way to becoming the font format of the future (and the pres- Make sure you’re getting the exact font you ent for some users). need before making a purchase. Many designers 3get confused when they see the same typeface Devote as much time as you need when select- offered on different sites at different prices. In many ing a typeface. Your choice can make or break cases, different distributors offer fonts from the same 7a job!

106 • FEBRUARY 2005 WWW.HOWDESIGN.COM organized site with large, sharp typeface displays DESIGN and PDF versions of the company’s fabulous free www.terminaldesign.com print catalogs. James Montalbano is known for his large, legible type families. Check out his stylish display designs as well.

Boutique Foundries HOUSE INDUSTRIES These medium-size foundries have loyal followings due houseind.com to the quality and uniqueness of their type libraries. Entertaining and innovative text and display fonts are Their sites might have fewer features than the larger the company’s specialty. Kooky and cool. distributors, but they don’t need as many, which makes font selection and purchasing simpler and quicker. STONE TYPE FOUNDRY www.stonetypefoundry.com FONT BUREAU Every one of Sumner Stone’s typeface designs is an www.fontbureau.com elegant gem. Roger Black and David Berlow founded Font Bureau in 1989 to meet the needs of the publishing industry. HOEFLER & FRERE-JONES Since then, the Font Bureau library has grown from www..com 13 fonts to more than 500. The site is clean and Jonathan Hoefler and Tobias Frere-Jones are two classy, as are the font offerings, which are excep- extremely talented young designers with old-world tionally displayed online as well as in downloadable sensibilities. PDFs. There are inviting designer bios and free cata- logs that are typographic works of art. But first and MVB FONTS foremost, Font Bureau sells some of the most gor- www.mvbfonts.com geous typefaces around. This is the site of Mark van Bronkhorst, designer of the best-selling ITC Conduit and more. ÉMIGRÉ www.emigre.com ASTIGMATIC ONE EYE Émigré caused quite a stir when it first appeared on www.astigmatic.com the scene in 1984 with anti-establishment designs, This is an entertaining site with funky, fun fonts. but has since become a household name in the type and design community. The site, although minimal CHANK in design, is effective. Émigré always has excellent www.chank.com print catalogs and type-specimen materials. But its You’ll find lots of grunge, retro and handwriting fonts. claim to fame is still its exciting, innovative, well- crafted typefaces. Émigré Magazine is a much-cov- FONT DINER eted, award-winning publication. It showcases the www.fontdiner.com impressive type library, and the articles are thought- This fun site offers the biggest and best collection of provoking and inspiring. retro fonts.

GALÁPAGOS DESIGN GROUP MARK SIMONSON STUDIO www.galapagosdesign.com www.ms-studio.com These folks, known by many as type technologists, You can find some nice faces in this small but diverse design some of the industry’s most creative typefaces. collection. The font library, although not huge, encompasses a broad range of styles. The warm, inviting site is simple P22 to navigate, and it has a great visual index of fonts, www.p22.com expressive typeface displays and downloadable PDF This site features decorative fonts inspired by art and specimens for all fonts. history. Museums love P22.

STEREO TYPE HAUS Indie Foundries www.stereotypehaus.com Small, independent foundries are doing some of the Find cutting-edge fonts from around the globe. highest quality typeface design. These “micro” found- ries prefer to control their own destinies by marketing Ilene Strizver, founder of The Type Studio, is a typo- and selling their own products rather then licensing to graphic consultant, writer, educator and designer. larger distributors. They’re usually one-person studios [email protected] (with the occasional assistant) that often supplement their type-design work with custom typeface design, logos and lettering. Although the font offerings of these small foundries might be few, they’re often sparkling jewels in a sea of anonymous pebbles.

WWW.HOWDESIGN.COM HOW • 107