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Font licenses are expensive. It's far cheaper to take something like Helvetica, and make slight changes to each of the glyphs, and rebrand it. For context, I u

Font licenses are expensive. It's far cheaper to take something like Helvetica, and make slight changes to each of the glyphs, and rebrand it. For context, I used to work on Google Fonts.

systemvoltage 6y ago
What's that have to do with Font licenses? I am talking about the size of the font taking up almost half of my screen. > It's far cheaper to take something like Helvetica Helvetica costs $$$ if you want to use it for commercial use. No more than any other font. Also, you cannot modify Helvetica, especially if you get it from Monotype (previously Linotype): https://www.myfonts.com/fonts/linotype/helvetica/ https://www.myfonts.com/fonts/linotype/helvetica/
- rwc 6y ago
  Nobody’s suggesting modifying. It’s accomplished through R&D... ripoff and duplicate.
  - systemvoltage 6y ago
    Even ripping off requires time/money. Font design isn't a trivial activity that most people deem it to be. I suggest downloading FontForge and try to make your own ripoff. You'll be amazed at the complexity and the skill required to design a typeface. Adjusting kerning pairs alone will take weeks of meticulous work.
- kevin_thibedeau 6y ago
  All the cool kids are designing web sites on retina Macs. They bump up the font sizes because Safari doesn't have sane default scaling.
sidcool 6y ago
Genuine question. Aren't most fonts free?
- SamWhited 6y ago
  No, most [citation needed] fonts cost money (assuming you mean "free as in beer"). Also just because a font is free as in beer (ie maybe it's shipped with your OS or something) doesn't necessarily mean that it's free to use on your website: everything is still copyright by default in most jurisdictions. Some fonts provide you with a license just like open source software (which may or may not be an open source or free software license, there are plenty of fonts that license themselves specifically for webfonts and charge a fee, or something along those lines).
  - fmajid 6y ago
    Typefaces cannot be copyrighted. The actual font code can.
    - SamWhited 6y ago
      Yes, fair point, thanks. I don't know that the distinction matters for this discussion, but in case it does it's good to be precise. Mea culpa.
- chipotle_coyote 6y ago
  I think there's a good case to be made that most well-designed fonts, particularly for body text, still cost money. It takes a lot of time and effort to design a good body font. Having said that, the word "still" in my first sentence is doing a lot of work. :) I think over the last... oh, let's say 15 years, free fonts (both in the freedom and beer sense of "free") have really stepped up their game, and there's an increasing number of great ones out there. Having said that, though, if you're an organization looking for subtle branding through typography, you aren't gonna go for any font, commercial or otherwise, that's in wide use. For Goldman Sachs, the cost isn't the point -- it's not like they couldn't afford to license any font they wanted in perpetuity. The branding is.

Font licenses are expensive. It's far cheaper to take something like Helvetica, and make slight changes to each of the glyphs, and rebrand it. For context, I used to work on Google Fonts.

systemvoltage 6y ago

What's that have to do with Font licenses? I am talking about the size of the font taking up almost half of my screen. > It's far cheaper to take something like Helvetica Helvetica costs $$$ if you want to use it for commercial use. No more than any other font. Also, you cannot modify Helvetica, especially if you get it from Monotype (previously Linotype): https://www.myfonts.com/fonts/linotype/helvetica/ https://www.myfonts.com/fonts/linotype/helvetica/

rwc 6y ago
Nobody’s suggesting modifying. It’s accomplished through R&D... ripoff and duplicate.
- systemvoltage 6y ago
  Even ripping off requires time/money. Font design isn't a trivial activity that most people deem it to be. I suggest downloading FontForge and try to make your own ripoff. You'll be amazed at the complexity and the skill required to design a typeface. Adjusting kerning pairs alone will take weeks of meticulous work.
kevin_thibedeau 6y ago
All the cool kids are designing web sites on retina Macs. They bump up the font sizes because Safari doesn't have sane default scaling.

sidcool 6y ago

Genuine question. Aren't most fonts free?

SamWhited 6y ago
No, most [citation needed] fonts cost money (assuming you mean "free as in beer"). Also just because a font is free as in beer (ie maybe it's shipped with your OS or something) doesn't necessarily mean that it's free to use on your website: everything is still copyright by default in most jurisdictions. Some fonts provide you with a license just like open source software (which may or may not be an open source or free software license, there are plenty of fonts that license themselves specifically for webfonts and charge a fee, or something along those lines).
- fmajid 6y ago
  Typefaces cannot be copyrighted. The actual font code can.
  - SamWhited 6y ago
    Yes, fair point, thanks. I don't know that the distinction matters for this discussion, but in case it does it's good to be precise. Mea culpa.
chipotle_coyote 6y ago
I think there's a good case to be made that most well-designed fonts, particularly for body text, still cost money. It takes a lot of time and effort to design a good body font. Having said that, the word "still" in my first sentence is doing a lot of work. :) I think over the last... oh, let's say 15 years, free fonts (both in the freedom and beer sense of "free") have really stepped up their game, and there's an increasing number of great ones out there. Having said that, though, if you're an organization looking for subtle branding through typography, you aren't gonna go for any font, commercial or otherwise, that's in wide use. For Goldman Sachs, the cost isn't the point -- it's not like they couldn't afford to license any font they wanted in perpetuity. The branding is.