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Quality matters more than price
This second section of the Type Report explores patterns of font selection behavior. We’ve learned that designers focus on aesthetics over price, that they often choose fonts alone, and that admiration for type designers is a more common selling point than discounts.
Where do you find fonts?
Designers report using a wide range of sources when searching for fonts. An impressive 72.4% of designers say that they look at individual foundry websites, with 68.5% reporting that they look on Adobe Fonts. Several sources like MyFonts, Fonts in Use, Google Fonts and Type Network appeared in many respondents’ answers, with some designers searching for fonts via a long tail of social media, blogs, and other outlets.
What matters when picking fonts?
When asked for one’s primary focus when comparing fonts before deciding to purchase a license, 89.5% of designers reported caring about general aesthetics and style the most. Second most important was the typeface’s range of weights and styles. Price and features (ligatures, alternates, etc.) were the next two most important factors, with licensing terms and language support coming in last.
Is user feedback helpful when picking a font?
When presented with various kinds of user feedback (star ratings, reviews, etc.), more than half of designers reported that this kind of information was unhelpful when picking a typeface. Out of those that were even slightly helpful, Q&A from the type designer was the most helpful, and reviews from designers who have used the typeface was second-most.
What is the TN Type Report?
The TN Type Report is a new, free, annual publication put together by Type Network. It has two goals:
- Find and share answers to the most important questions in our industry, across type users, purchasers, and designers.
- Help elevate and communicate the value of high-quality type.
Why did you make your most recent font purchase?
The two most common reasons designers gave for making their most recent font purchase were: I needed it for a project, at 59.1% and I just liked it, at 45.7%.
Perhaps surprisingly, admiration for the type designer was a more frequently cited reason for licensing a typeface than any discount or sale.
Together with data from the previous questions, this reflects designers’ continued focus on style, quality, and typographic flexibility, relegating questions of price and licensing terms to lower priority.
How many people on your team are involved in font selection and purchasing?
Typography remains a specialized skill and responsibility: Most organizations (51.7%) trust just one person to select and purchase fonts, with an overwhelming majority (83%) trusting a team of less than five. Only a small group of large companies require input from large teams to make font choices.
Which styles do you typically get?
The standard core set of fonts (regular, italic, bold, bold italic) remains the most broadly chosen collection of styles from a given typeface, with 35.7% of designers reporting that they regularly select it. The second most common selection of styles is a bespoke one, with 27.8% of designers saying they manually pick out the styles they need. A piece of good news for foundries: Only 7.1% of designers report typically licensing single styles at a time.