Just before the new year, we hit you with FontBook 3.0, bringing the world of type to your pocket for just 99¢. You can now find an update to FontBook in the App Store which includes bug fixes and some additional features. FontBook 3.0.1 is free for current users. A full list of updates is below:
We hope you’ve had as much fun as we have playing with the new version of FontBook this week. Thanks for making it the #2 reference app in the App Store within 24 hours of release!
Welcome to new users of the app. If you’ve been loving FontBook for awhile, here’s a summary the goodies we added this go ’round:
FontBook is now universal and runs on iPad 2 (and later), iPad Mini, iPhone 4 (and later) and iPod touch (4th gen. and later)
Adapted user interface for iPhone
Favorites and preferences sync between devices via iCloud
Left: The FontBook App homepage offers the familiar access to the world of type: class, designer, year, foundry and usage. Right: Filters supply even more precise search results, for example “All geometric Sans typefaces from Font Bureau, please!”
Left: One of four type sample pages of a selected type family, in this case the sans serif Nobel. Right: All typefaces marked as favorites at a single glance, with editable sample text.
On the eve of FontBook App for iPad’s first birthday, we can’t wrap up this week’s series without extending a big THANK YOU to the over 25,000 (that’s 50,000 font-ogling eyeballs) of you who have downloaded the app in the last year. Now close your eyes, make a wish, and tell us in the comments what you’d like to see in FontBook’s future!
Obviously Saturday’s birthday is a huge milestone for FontBook. But do you recall that the FontBook app grew up quite a bit in its first year?
Around five months, FontBook 2.0 emerged, adding 250 new families, a news stream, automatic updates, better bookmarking and more. In April, with the release of the Retina Display iPad, FontBook got a shiny new look. We’ve loved watching our baby change over the past 12 months. We hope you have too!
Coming up on its first birthday, we’re so proud that the FontBook app for iPad has made such a splash this year! A quick recap of the recognition this mobile typeface compendium has garnered since July 2011:
Venus in transit yesterday must’ve made the internet fall in love all over again with FontBook app for iPad.
We were super excited to be named Smash App’s app of the day this morning, which definitely put a smile on our faces. Then this afternoon Wired lists FontBook as one of its 10 Essential Apps for Makers. That resulted in some joyous office clapping.
The app’s about to celebrate its first birthday, so we’re happy that it continues to be a useful and essential resource for the design community. We didn’t stop there and continue to innovate and create more tools to make your life easier. As we told you in today’s newsletter, we’re thrilled that our plugin now supports both Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. Stay tuned to the blog tomorrow for a closer look.
Thanks for all those who’ve shared their experiences with us so far. We want to hear more. Have you used the plugin to help you select just the right font for a project? Did you discover a typeface you hadn’t even known existed? How has the tool made your design flow easier? Submit your story here by 11:59 PM (PDT) on Monday, April 30 and we’ll select our favorites to win a free download of the FontBook app for iPad.
The FontBook team has just given us word that FontBook 2.1 is up for sale in the App Store. FontBook 2.1 takes full advantage of the new iPad’s beautiful Retina display, with double the resolution and four times the pixel density of iPad 2. The new iPad’s brilliant, high-contrast display becomes a suitable substrate upon which FontBook’s specimens reveal the character of their faces. At its high resolution, even type samples set at text sizes approach the crispness of the printed page.
Find FontBook 2.1 for the new iPad at the App Store, or learn more about it at fontbook.com.
To make it easier for you to get what you’re looking for on fontshop.com, we’ve added a new delivery option when you buy something. You can download, or now email yourself the fonts. This comes in handy especially when you’re browsing the site from a mobile device, or when you’re ready to buy something after looking it over in the new FontBook.
Selecting the Email option sends the zip file to the address listed in your account. If it’s a big file, (over 10MB) the email option is disabled for that product, but the site works the same as always; Whatever you’ve paid for but haven’t downloaded yet will be waiting for you the next time you log in.
When you choose the email option, here’s what the delivery message looks like:
You can take it from here. Thanks for following our work to put great type into the hands of great designers.
You can get a closer look at these faces by following the links in the headers, or by exploring the families in FontBook. FontBook for iPad available in the App Store. More information is at fontbook.com.
Planning on spending your post-holiday weekend curled up on the couch? Make sure you upgrade to FontBook for iPad 2.0 and we’ll make sure you’re entertained until Monday.
If you already have FontBook installed, just do an update from the App Store. Don’t have it? Now’s the time to check out this acclaimed app. Read all about its new features over at the FontFeed and watch the video below:
We may open our champagne before New Year’s in these parts. We were recently thrilled to learn that App Store just named FontBook for iPad the best of the iPad Reference category in App Store Rewind 2011 in the US. (Make sure to toggle to the iPad button).
Heading back to the classroom this fall? Forget putting an apple on the desk. Here are some sure-fire ways to impress both your instructors and classmates using tools from FontShop.
5. Readily reference your summer reading from the FontShop Education pages.
4. Design your online portfolio using webfonts. Won’t your professor be impressed when your gorgeous site shows up in search results?
1. Preload your iPad with the FontBook app, impress your instructor and wow your classmates. And, of course, let us know if you get any dates through showcasing 620,000 type specimens in your lab.
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.
August is Here with a New Newsletter
Did you miss our latest newsletter on Wednesday? Read it here. Then check out the great new selections from TypeTrust, Red Rooster, Alias, Emigre and Dalton Maag. You can subscribe to newsletters on this page to get this font deliciousness in your inbox twice a month.
On August 24, FontShop San Francisco is hosting a designer meetup with a twist. We’ve partnered with the Storek Building to create Visual Meets Virtual, an opportunity for designers and developers to connect on projects. There will also be pizza, beer and fun.
