Monthly Archives: July 2011

FontShop Friday Five: Last Chance for Survey, Staff Picks & More App News

July 29, 2011 – 3:09 PM

We know you’re busy and the Internet is a crowded place, so we’ll try to give you a little reminder on Fridays of what’s going on out there. Below please find five recent FontShop-related threads that you may have missed.

Tell Us What You Think Before The Day ends

Don’t miss out on our 2011 Customer Survey! Click here to take the survey. All those who complete it by tonight at midnight Pacific time will receive a promo code for 20% off at FontShop!

Summer Staff Picks

The gang at our SF office rounds up their font list for July.

All About the App

FontBook is still the buzz in the type world. Check out our special edition newsletter for a walk through, feature highlights, and some nice quotes from the design universe. The FontFeed has an app flavor this week as well, including an interview with the development team.

Behind Compendium

Take a look at some of the OpenType features in this Sudtipos offering.

Win Tickets to TYPO London

TYPO is going home to London this fall and you could too. Check out the new contest online and find out how you can win tickets.

Friday Five Fonts: Gordon Black by Letterbox and Mister K Informal by FontFont

By Meghan Arnold | Posted in FontShop Products | Tagged , , , , | Comments (0)

Staff Picks, July 2011

July 29, 2011 – 10:29 AM

Summertime and the living may be easy, but we still have type on the brain. This month’s FontShop Staff Picks are here. We’ve highlighted three below so you can hear why our employees picked them.

Oxtail by Stefan Hattenbach

Michael, First Officer of our SF crew, likes Oxtail from PsyOps Type Foundry. “This is one of my favorites because it’s sophisticated, tasteful, and has a splash of sass,” he explains.

FF Polymorph by Stefanie Schwarz

Designer Anna picks FF Polymorph for its international flavor. “FF Polymorph intrigues me with its variety of forms inspired by characters from all over the globe,” she notes.

FF Mister K Informal by Julia Sysmäläinen

Our communications manager, Meghan, digs the newly released FF Mister K informal. “I’ve been a big fan of the whole family, but now I can have a font to express my more casual Kafkaesque situations,” she jokes. “In all seriousness though, there are so many unique and beautiful glyphs in this version – it’s a very fun font to explore.”

By Ivan Bettger | Posted in FontShop Products, New Fonts, Staff Picks | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

All The App That’s Fit to Print

July 27, 2011 – 5:10 PM

FontBook for iPad – Halex Pereira QuoteFontBook for iPad – Jens Tenhaeff Quote

We know we’ve talked a lot about our new FontBook app lately. But we’re not the only ones! Check out our special edition July newsletter for some nice words from around the globe. We also have highlighted a couple of features cross-posted from the FontFeed.

What are your favorite parts of the app?

By Meghan Arnold | Posted in FontBook | Tagged , , , , | Comments (1)

The OpenType Features of Compendium

July 26, 2011 – 5:18 PM

Most of our readers are probably well familiar with OpenType features. They allow you to set type using glyphs that are not necessarily available by default, giving you a much wider range of effect. This is especially helpful when working with a script font — a point that is often demonstrated in the work of Alejandro Paul and his foundry Sudtipos. Many of his scripts contain vast character sets with tons of alternative glyphs, among them Suave Script, Affair, and the recently featured Fiance. Another is the beautiful Compendium, which we’ll take a look at below.

Here’s Compendium in Adobe Illustrator, with only the default Standard Ligatures activated:

Now let’s activate Contextual Alternates:

… with Swash caps turned on at the same time:

Now we take a step back and try out the Stylistic Alternates:

… and now Stylistic and Contextual Alternates together:

Just by flipping a switch, you can see how much variation one can get from feature to feature. Of course for best effect, one should go through the entire glyph palette and insert individual glyphs that best fit your sample, layout, or intended aesthetic. If you don’t want colliding flourishes, for example, there is likely a combination of glyphs that will fit together perfectly. You may also find additional flourishes, such as what can be found in Compendium:

You can preview these OpenType features using our new and improved custom sample toolbar.

By Ivan Bettger | Posted in Font Support, FontShop Products, OpenType | Comments (0)

FontBook Features: Browse By Year

July 25, 2011 – 4:41 PM

Now that we’ve unleashed the FontBook iPad app on the world, we want to take some time to show you all the goodies packed inside. Watch for our FontBook Features posts throughout the coming weeks. Also, remember if you have general questions about app, we’ll keep our FAQs documented here.

A stunning look at the typographic timeline can be found by clicking on “Year” on the homescreen on the app. You then have the ability to browse by century, then decade, then year as type progresses.

Drill in and you’ll see all typefaces created during that timeframe (or their modern equivalents).

This is a great route to take to a product page, especially if your design is trying to capture a certain era.

Have you browsed by year yet?

By Meghan Arnold | Posted in FontBook | Tagged , , , , | Comments (4)

FontShop Friday Five: FontBook, Comp Fonts, Oh My!

July 22, 2011 – 4:11 PM

We know you’re busy and the Internet is a crowded place, so we’ll try to give you a little reminder on Fridays of what’s going on out there. Below please find five recent FontShop-related threads that you may have missed.

FontBook is Back

It may have physically slimmed down, but the new FontBook is bigger than ever with a mind-blowing 620,000 type specimens. Your burning questions are answered in our FAQs.

Wild Webfont News

In case you missed it, Web FontFonts underwent a major overhaul this week. Several new fonts have been added, files updated, and they now include comp fonts so you can mock up your site offline.

New FontFonts Are Here

Several new FontFonts arrived at FontShop this week, along with others that we’ll be highlighting soon. Check out all of our July new fonts here.

Jam-Packed Newsletter

Did you miss our latest newsletter on Wednesday? Read it here. You can subscribe to newsletters on this page to get this font deliciousness in your inbox twice a month.

Reminder: Tell Us What You Think

Don’t miss out on our 2011 Customer Survey! Click here to take the survey. All those who complete it by Friday, July 29 will receive a promo code for 20% off at FontShop!

Friday Five Fonts: FF Sero Pro by FontFont and FF Signa Serif Stencio Pro by Fontfont

By Meghan Arnold | Posted in FontBook, FontShop Products, New Fonts | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments (0)

FontBook Features: Beautiful Search

July 22, 2011 – 3:25 PM

Now that we’ve unleashed the FontBook iPad app on the world, we want to take some time to show you all the goodies packed inside. Watch for our FontBook Features posts throughout the coming weeks. Also, remember if you have general questions about app, we’ll keep our FAQs documented here.

Today we want to point out the easy and beautiful search function built into the app. Just select the magnifying glass on the top bar on any page in the app. You can search by font family, designer or foundry. And remember the app is gorgeous in either portrait or landscape! Try it yourself and see how the samples auto-populate and rearrange as you refine your search.

Search by Foundry

Search by Font Family

Search by Designer

By Meghan Arnold | Posted in FontBook, FontShop Products | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments (0)

FontBook App – FAQs

July 21, 2011 – 10:00 AM

UPDATED: December 19, 2012

We announced today that FontBook  has been enhanced as a universal app and will work on iPhone as well as iPad. We’re sure you’ve got lots of questions. We’ll answer some of your burning ones below, but feel free to leave more in the comments.

If I purchase the app, can I use it on both my iPhone and iPad?

Yes, as a universal app, you pay once and you may install it on any of your iOS devices. FontBook runs on iPad 2 (and later), iPad Mini, iPhone 4 (and later) and iPod touch (4th gen. and later)

 

fontbookiphone

Is there an Android version of the FontBook?

Not currently. While we are watching the growth of the Android market, we would first like to experience the transition from print to digital FontBook on one platform.

But what about print?

We want to deliver more information than ever before with the new typeface compendium. Note that the App delivers 620,000 font specimens — 19 times more than the printed FontBook 4. With FontBook 4, in 2006, we had to make compromises to host all available typefaces in one volume. For example, we downsized the showing of FF Meta (26 fonts) from three pages in 1998′s FontBook 3 to one page, despite the fact that the family had grown to 300 weights in the meantime. We did that by squeezing the stylistic sets into four lines of sample text — not a very user-friendly compromise. FF Meta is now shown in its entirety. The app also allows you to combine and compare type specimens — completely impossible with previous editions unless you were willing to tear your book apart.

Can I download fonts on my device?

iOS does not support the installation of fonts by the user. However you can download font files that have been purchased on FontShop with mobile Safari once you log into your account from a desktop computer.

Does FontBook contain the actual files of the shown fonts?

No. The FontBook app delivers raster images of typefaces that are generated and stored on a server. FontBook is an online Browser.

Can I use the FontBook app without an internet connection?

The app is primarily an online browsing application and can only display its full content when your device has live internet access through a WiFi/WLAN or 3G mobile connection. However, if you have no online access, you can temporarily switch the “Include online content” setting to “off”. This will enable the app to display a reduced pool of selected content which will work offline. Whenever you do have online access, you can switch back to the full version by switching the “Include online content” setting to “on”.

app99

FontBook is available in the App Store. Learn more at fontbook.com.

 

By Meghan Arnold | Posted in Announcements, FontBook, FontShop Products | Tagged , , , , | Comments (99)

The New FontBook Has Arrived!

July 21, 2011 – 9:13 AM

FontShop is thrilled to announce our new FontBook™ iPad app, the world’s most comprehensive typographic reference tool! Download the app for just $5.99/€4.99 at the iTunes App Store.

Moving the book into the online realm allows us to increase the number of font samples from 32,000 to an astonishing 620,000, while reducing the weight of the book by 80%. Use the FontBook app to look up and view fonts by name, style category, typographical subclassification, designer name, foundry name, year of publication, or by similarity of design. Now typophiles can interact with and compare typefaces on-the-go and with the swipe of a finger.

We can’t wait to share more highlights with you in the coming days — stay tuned to FontBook.com, The FontFeed and the FontShop Blog for inside looks all this month.

Enjoy!

Browse by Family

Browse by Foundry

Combine & Compare Specimens

By Meghan Arnold | Posted in Announcements, FontBook, FontShop Products | Tagged , , , , | Comments (4)

Webfont Wednesday: Big News for Web FontFonts

July 20, 2011 – 3:00 PM

In case you missed today’s newsletter, we’ve got a ton of updates in the world of Web FontFonts. In addition to several FontFonts adding web versions, there’s also all sorts of goodies packed into them. Check it out:

Designers rejoice! Comp fonts now included in Web FFs

Once again FontFont is leading the charge in webfont technology and making the lives of designers much easier! It’s now even simpler to involve great typefaces like FF Meta Web, FF Unit Web, or the new FF Sero Web in all phases of website creation. We know that during the design process it may be necessary to create page layouts of the proposed design using applications that don’t support WOFF/EOT fonts. For this purpose, Web FontFont archives now contain corresponding TrueType-flavored OpenType fonts for the offline design phase. As reflected in the amended Web FontFont EULA, these comp fonts may only be used for this specific purpose.

Improved Web FontFonts

Additionally, Web FontFonts have been reworked to ensure you end up with a smaller file size, additional optimization for Microsoft’s rendering API DirectWrite and improved vertical metrics for consistent baseline positions in all browsers. In many of the files, you can also now choose between Oldstyle Figures and Proportional Lining Figures. If you’ve already purchased Web FontFonts, you can enjoy these enhancements; upgraded files are available for download in your account at no additional cost.

FontFont Subsetter

Once you’ve downloaded your Web FontFonts, use Subsetter to create a new, lighter webfont file tailored to the needs of your website. Learn more here.

By Meghan Arnold | Posted in Announcements, FontShop Products, Web Fonts | Tagged , , , , | Comments (3)

FontShop Friday Five: Feedback & Foundries

July 15, 2011 – 5:02 PM

We know you’re busy and the Internet is a crowded place, so we’ll try to give you a little reminder on Fridays of what’s going on out there. Below please find five recent FontShop-related threads that you may have missed.

Tell Us What You Think

We launched our 2011 Customer Survey this week and want to hear from you! Click here to take the survey. All those who complete it by Friday, July 29 will receive a promo code for 20% off at FontShop!

Letterbox Updates

Not only did Letterbox recently add new fonts to their collection, but they upgraded their ENTIRE library. Take an in-depth look here.

FontBook is Coming July 21

Looks like there’s been more movement on FontBook.com. Sign up for updates and you’ll be among the first to know how to get your paws on it starting next Thursday!

TYPO Comes Home

We examined TYPO London‘s use of FF Unit Web on Wednesday and gave you the scoop on this exciting event in October.

On the FontFeed

Kylie + typefaces = bizarre/obscure 90s video

Friday Five Fonts:  Alix FB by Font Bureau and Delight Script by Sudtipos

By Meghan Arnold | Posted in Announcements, New Fonts, Web Fonts | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (0)

Foundry Update: Letterbox

July 14, 2011 – 2:02 PM

In our first newsletter of the month, we announced some new fonts from Letterbox: the chunky but energetic display faces Brunswick Black and Gordon Black, and the curiously mechanical monoline script Terital United. Terital, originally conceived as an all-lowercase script, wasn’t entirely new — FontShop originally announced its release in December of 2009. But since then, designers Wendy Ellerton and Lan Huang completely revised the typeface, with two sets of caps (standard and swash) and by combining the three variants into one single OpenType feature-laden gem — thus United.

But Letterbox didn’t stop with Terital; in fact the entire library was upgraded. All fonts were re-coded, some with updated and refined outlines and others with new glyphs and features. Here are a few standouts:

Berber by Stephen Banham, Niels Oeltjen, and Lan Huang

Berber is a strong, narrow, block-style sans serif. While typically meant for use in larger applications like signage, this recent incarnation of the the typeface increases its legibility in text settings. Berber Text now comes with Small Caps, while the King Caps variant offers some great underlined ligatures. Central European language diacritics have also been added to the family.

Download Berber Specimen PDF (532 KB).

Kevlar by Niels Oeltjen and Wendy Ellerton

Kevlar is a set of interesting hybrids. The Regular and Bold weights, similar to TypeTogether‘s Bree, are sans serifs with a distinct scripty vibe. Kevlar Slab meanwhile is an upright retro display script, like Michael Doret‘s Deliscript, which acts as a nice and extreme display option for the family. Figure variants have been added to all three styles.

Download Kevlar Specimen PDF (537 KB).

Bisque by Niels Oeltjen and Stephen Banham

Another upright script, Bisque is a unique blend of quirkiness and elegance, combining the coolness of geometric form with the warmth of unexpected and organic loops and glyph connections. The two weights are packed with contextual alternates and language diacritics, which are nicely illustrated in the specimen PDF.

Download Bisque Specimen PDF (516 KB).

Head over to the Letterbox foundry page to see the whole collection.

Images courtesy of the Letterbox website.

By Ivan Bettger | Posted in Font Packages, New Fonts | Tagged , , , , | Comments (1)

Webfont Wednesday: Places for Webfonts

July 13, 2011 – 4:34 PM

In case you’ve missed the exciting news, TYPO returns home to London this fall. Of course, what would a premier design conference be without a first-rate website employing a solid webfont? TYPO London’s leverages FF Unit Web throughout to communicate information about the event. Want to learn more? Information on TYPO London is below.

TYPO is coming home!

We are delighted to announce that TYPO London, the event based on the hugely successful TYPO Berlin, will return to its roots in London, the city where it all began with FUSE 1994. Europe’s most successful annual design conference was founded in 1996 from the impetus created by the first two FUSE Conferences in London 1994 and Berlin 1995. The Berlin FUSE conference was the springboard that created the demand for TYPO. It is fitting that the founder of FUSE, legendary designer and typographer Neville Brody, “Britain’s first pop-star typographer” (International Herald Tribune), will be one of the speakers at TYPO London 2011.

In October FUSE will return to its roots – as TYPO London 2011. Some 1,000 typographers, designers and communication professionals from all over the world will have the opportunity to follow an eclectic and inspiring mix of talks by the most influential thinkers of these disciplines.  Among the speakers who have confirmed their attendance for TYPO London 2011 are: Neville Brody, Michael Bierut, König Bansah, Jonathan Ellery, Jeff Faulkner, Tim Fendley, Dale Herigstad, Nat Hunter, Gary Hustwit, Michael B Johnson, Chip Kidd, Morag Myerscough, Pamela Mead, Karin von Ompteda, Joachim Sauter, Marina Willer, Laurence Weiner, Julian Zimmermann and many more.

The theme of this years TYPO London is »Places«. From information and urban planning to social networks, online communities and animated worlds, places shape our social behaviour. Design and the creative process is often the unifying factor linking people, places and things together.

The 2nd round of early bird tickets has just started!

By Meghan Arnold | Posted in Web Fonts | Tagged , , , , | Comments (0)

The 2011 FontShop Customer Survey

July 12, 2011 – 4:29 PM

How are we doing? We want to know and we hope you will tell us. We’ve put together a quick customer feedback survey that will just take a few minutes of your time. Please fill it out by Friday, July 29 and we’ll send you a 20% off discount code to show our appreciation!

Click here to take survey

Header Fonts: CC Clean Cut Kid by Comicraft and FF Dingbats 2.0 OT by FontFont

By Meghan Arnold | Posted in Announcements | Tagged , | Comments (0)

FontShop Friday Five: Launches & Updates

July 8, 2011 – 3:55 PM

We know you’re busy and the Internet is a crowded place, so we’ll try to give you a little reminder on Fridays of what’s going on out there. Below please find five recent FontShop-related threads that you may have missed.

Introducing Subsetter

We were excited to announce the launch of FF Subsetter this week, a new tool that can significantly reduce the size of your Web FontFont files. Give it a try!

OpenType Features Added to Sample Toolbar

Phase II of our sample toolbar overhaul went live this week and we’ll hope you enjoy. You can now preview OpenType features of a font before you buy.

What’s Up with FontBook?

Like the Go-Go’s, our lips are sealed, but we can’t help but notice a new splash page on FontBook.com. Go ahead, sign up for updates.

New Font Samples in Newsletter

Did you miss our latest newsletter on Wednesday? Read it here. Then check out the new fonts from Font Bureau, Letterbox and Sudtipos.  You can subscribe to newsletters on this page to get this font deliciousness in your inbox twice a month.

On the FontFeed

Yves Peters looks at TypeCon in New Orleans, Type]Media 2011 grads, and a type-inspired commercial.

Friday Five Fonts:  Terital United by Letterbox and Salvo Sans Black by Font Bureau

By Meghan Arnold | Posted in FontShop Products, New Fonts, Web Fonts, Website Features | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments (3)
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 51,174 other followers