Type resources for designers and brand owners

Featured article.

Monotype's font pairing tool is shown, displaying a serif and sans serif font paired together.

Have you ever cooked a meal at home and been delighted to find the perfect ingredient to complement your recipe? Maybe you forgot you had cilantro, crushed peanuts, or lemon juice, and it’s just the thing you needed to elevate your dish.

What’s new.

Monotype’s company desktop license empowers cloud access to brand fonts.

Long gone are the days of zipping up folders of font files and sharing them across your organization, or even messier, embedding fonts in documents in the cloud in hopes that the design remains intact. We recently announced an expanded set of licensing rights which allows all employees within an organization to access Commercial Production Fonts in their desktop environments. 

Creative Characters S2 E8: Andrew Krivine and Michael Worthington.

This week we’re welcoming Andrew Krivine, author and punk rock collector, alongside Michael Worthington, faculty at CalArts and co-founder of Counterspace. The creative duo is here to tell the tale of how they co-created the largest exhibition of punk and new wave graphics ever shown on the West Coast.   

Monotype x Limerick.

Over the past four years, we’ve been lucky to forge a reciprocal partnership with the Limerick School of Art & Design / TUS in Ireland. Both Creative Type Directors Tom Foley and Emilios Theofanous have now participated in workshops and modules at the leading fine art, design and creative media school. This year’s students were asked to write a message platform for one typeface and build a marketing plan and design assets to promote it in digital or print media.  

Font resources for brands.

8 Common mistakes to avoid when choosing brand fonts.

When you’re a designer, it’s thrilling to create a new brand or update an existing one. You get to be creative! Strategic! You get a chance to make your mark!

In addition to deciding on a color palette and imagery style, you get to choose foundational typefaces for your brand. But font selection should not be based on looks alone.

How an increased focus on digital transformation has changed customer branding expectations.

Today’s designers are faced with a multitude of new challenges when it comes to designing for a digital world. Customers expect constant communication, have short attention spans, and expect brands to keep up with emerging technology. Learn about the branding challenges to advance your digital strategy and forge ahead.

What creative leaders need to consider in a brand refresh.

You’re at your desk reviewing your emails, and getting ready to kickstart a new design project tomorrow. You’ve read over the project brief, and you have a team call coming up to go over the project guidelines. It’s an exciting challenge, but you’re not sure where to begin.
 

Get inspired.

Creative Characters S3 E3: Getting into the ‘heavy stuff’ with Aaron James Draplin.

We are thrilled to have Aaron Draplin on the podcast this week and to dig into the “heavy stuff” with him – existential musings on life and building a career, the importance of hanging on to your inner kid, and the “weird little spot” he’s in as he approaches 50 turns around the sun.

7 Typographic rebrands that worked wonders.

Today’s brands must keep up with a fast-paced digital world and navigate a “new normal” that’s still emerging from the worst of the pandemic. The last few years shifted everyone’s digital expectations, how brands operate, and in some cases, impacted their business models. Moreover, issues like biodiversity, sustainability, diversity and equity, and brand activism are all booming. So how does this all impact brand building? These macro shifts are greatly influencing how companies position themselves, the services they offer, and how they communicate with their customers.

Font expertise from the Monotype Studio.

Typography terms and definitions.

From alternates to X-height, this list of typography terms and definitions covers just about everything you’d want to know about fonts and typography.

What are font superfamilies and why do we need them?

Font superfamilies are vast collections of type that can meet a multitude of needs without compromising on consistency. But what defines a superfamily, exactly?

All resources.

Monotype Fonts: 5 Features that make font management a breeze.

Gives the reader an in-depth view into what font management features Monotype Fonts provides. Covers features such as managing company tags, managing permissions, assigning users to teams, etc… This should be written as if speaking to the admin so it should focus more on admin level font management features rather than the more tactical features that designers would be interested in.  Conveys how these features will benefit the reader.

Font licensing principles unpacked.

What is the difference between a typeface, a font, a font file, a font license, and a EULA? Does a font license cover one or multiple fonts? What informs a font license strategy? What’s the easiest way to resolve a font license gap—before or after it arises? From fundamental principles to pre-purchase considerations, this guide aims to help you confidently speak the language of fonts.

“Tip: You’ll want to bookmark this.”

Creative Characters S4 E5: Live from SXSW: A branding masterclass with Dentsu, eBay, Neurons, and WeTransfer.

Tune in for a masterclass in branding that explores the visual elements and innovative technology driving how brands, advertising, and experiences influence our responses.

5 Common font management issues Monotype Fonts will help you fix.

This piece should cover how a MTF subscription can help alleviate problems organizations face due to font management issues. Provides examples of how a subscription may reduce the likelihood of commonly known issues that organizations face such as not having fonts all stored in one place or inconsistent branding. 

Monotype Fonts: Our font library structure explained.

This piece should explain how the MTF library is structured and give the reader a good understanding of how the structure of the library benefits them. The article should be sectioned out into different categories such as the full range of styles, the range of languages, etc. with each section showing the reader why that portion of the font library matters. This piece should also touch on the foundries program and explain how Monotype partners with different foundries.

[Webinar] Type Trends 2024 in practice.

What is type saying to us in 2024? This year’s Type Trends report is a celebratory look at the universality of type – a collection of groundbreaking designs that reflects our changing world.  

Creative Characters S4 E4: Searching for signs of the British seaside with Justin Burns.

Join Monotype Creative Director Graham Sturt as he and guest Justin Burns, Head of the School of Arts at the University of Derby, explore the signage and typography of the English seaside and examine the linkage between letters, memories, and emotion.

Generating Trust: Safeguarding Authenticity in Typography

In our modern world, fonts are all around us. In our books, on our phones, and across our roadways, fonts help us navigate the spaces we engage with. Fonts are powerful. They play a pivotal role in visual communication, conveying messages, establishing brand identities, helping make content more accessible, and shaping user experiences across mediums. 

Highlights and soundbytes from Brand Talks SXSW.

This year, Monotype brought our Creative Characters podcast to SXSW for our first-ever live recording on stage. Read on for highlights from the unique event.