It’s important for every designer to stay current on new typeface designs, new features, as well as what’s trending – all of which can contribute to keeping one’s work fresh, and serve our clients’ best interest. Yet staying abreast of what’s new on the font scene can seem like a daunting, almost impossible task. With the ever-growing number of font resources, and the hundreds of thousands of fonts available from them, keeping up can seem an insurmountable undertaking.
So how can this best be accomplished without taking hours of research on a regular basis?
One of the best ways is to sign up for the mailings and promotions of reputable font sellers. Most major foundries and resellers send out newsletters and announcements on a regular basis. These are usually well-designed vehicles that showcase new releases in appealing, design-appropriate ways. They often include background on the typeface and the designer, as well as suggested usage. Some mailings include font promotions, current best sellers, interviews with designers, and other informative and entertaining articles; some even offer free fonts for signing up. Smaller foundries and resellers will usually send out mailings only when they have a new release or other important announcement.
Foundries occasionally offer free downloadable PDFs that give a more complete background on a font family. This can including a range of showings in a variety of sizes, history, designer details, features and character compliment – all of which are not only interesting, but useful when selecting a font for a job. On occasion, they will release a catalog or book that is sent only to their subscribers.
Take the time to research and sign up on as many sites as you can – from the mega resellers to the small independent foundries and everything in-between. If they don’t have a visible signup, email them directly and ask to be on their mailing list. Once you start receiving their mailings, either save the emails or the browser URL provided by many in a special folder for easy reference.
Some of the best design newsletters are offered by these font resources:
Other resources for information on new typeface releases as well as articles, promotions, and other typographic announcements can be accessed via social media such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, as well as blog posts, type-centric web sites, and even archives of past emailings.
NOTE: Make sure your email is set to support HTML so you’re able to see the images in any emailings. An alternative is to look for a link within the email or newsletter to view on a browser.
