As a designer, I’m often asked when to buy fonts so I thought it’s time to share a bit about that.
While I was browsing a typography blog a few days ago, I stumbled upon a post about free fonts and, well, the conclusion was that they are bad, and you shouldn’t use them. I’ve been thinking about this ever since and I don’t fully agree with the author. Yes, finding good free fonts is hard, but not using them is not an option for me.
Some of you might know that I like to design premade WordPress themes and the fonts used in those themes are free. The reason I am doing this is because most of my clients use the premade logo and I don’t want to make them purchase a $50 font after buying a $25 theme.
When it comes to custom design, things are a little bit different. I usually show my clients a few fonts, including free ones, and buy the commercial license myself. If my clients want a font that I’m not interested in, I will ask them to purchase the license.
Buying fonts
Purchasing a font is just like investing in your blog or business, and you should know what you are looking for before you spend the money. Some fonts are cheap, like $5 or $10, but you can spend a lot of money on them if you frequently purchase fonts.
One of the advantages of paying for fonts is that you won’t find that font everywhere. I’ve noticed there are some very popular paid fonts, but the free ones are usually overused.
I usually invest in handwritten and script fonts because free ones are harder to find and don’t have the same quality. Though that doesn’t mean that there aren’t any good free handwritten fonts. Or at least I think they are good.
Another advantage to buying fonts is that you usually get the entire alphabet, plus symbols and sometimes glyphs are included. You will also get the entire font family so different font weights and maybe italics will be included. You might also get another typeface that matches the one you’ve purchased.
Should you buy a commercial license font?
Most paid fonts come with a commercial license, but you should always read the license before purchasing the font. I only download fonts that I can use in my premade themes and custom designs. This way, I don’t have to read the license every time I want to use a font.
You will need a commercial license if you are using it for:
- a company logo or for promotional or marketing products (business cards, flyers)
- a product you want to sell
- a blog that brings you an income
You won’t need a commercial license if you are using the for:
- a personal, non-profit blog
- personal items like cards that you don’t sell
Resources:
There are a lot of places where you can find fonts, but these are the places I like to visit when I’m in need of a new font.
Open source fonts:
Paid fonts:
Do you purchase fonts often? What are your favorite fonts?
