There is a lot of chatter about @font-face and the future of web typography, font foundries and the font industry in general. There’s a good summary over at I Love Typography about the various solutions that have been proposed, and what the consensus is on each one of them. There seem to be high marks for .webfont and TypeKit — the latter being a rent/subscription based service. While these are definitely steps forward to a cause that has remained mostly about guerilla attempts since Microsoft and Internet Explorer tried to solve it, I feel the need to make a small point.⌘

Fonts are expensive

I don’t mean to be a cheapskate here, but man are fonts expensive! For someone who doesn’t make money from a publication (restricting the argument to ones on the web), as things stand right now, it doesn’t make sense to buy expensive fonts just to make it look good. Cheap fonts aren’t good enough for connoisseurs and those who take their typography seriously. Free fonts make things look like everything else to the limit that one is better off not using them¹. Of course, there is always the age old argument — “don’t use something you cannot afford.” But as an artist, I strongly believe that money should not get in the way of creativity.⌘

There are useful repositories like Font Squirrel coming up though, that showcase and and allow downloading of free fonts with web licenses, which will definitely help the folks with tight budgets. My respects to the people who step up to solve issues like these.⌘

I love fonts. I might not have the technical or theoretical training that most professional designers do, but I can put together a good set of typefaces that suit a design. I hate to settle for a sub-par solution because the cost of what I had in mind is too high. That is just a slap in the face. If I’m doing a paid design gig, it’s a different story; I’d happily pay.⌘

TypeKit’s subscription based model is interesting, but without knowing what they are going to charge (I couldn’t find anything in a 10 minute search), I don’t know how economically feasible it will be for personal and non-commercial publications. They do say:⌘

We’ll offer a free version of the service to get you started, and a low-cost way to grow from there.

But in my experience, “low-cost” is highly subjective. Maybe if they had pay-per-request for the expensive commercial fonts, or a free license for sites that don’t make money and/or are not a medium to make money from i.e. strictly personal, or even show free alternatives to commercial fonts that are good enough — this could be the best solution for the future of web typography.⌘

Licensing has always been a big pain in my posterior ever since I was introduced to the concept. Unclear, ambiguous wording that ultimately ends up confusing people are not helpful. Or a lack of choices that leaves a lot to be desired. Licenses might be doing their part to protect authors/creators and consumers alike, but at least in the case of fonts, I hope there is some leeway for a more personalised solution.⌘

@font-face as a standard is well on the way, but how the font industry ultimately ends up restructuring itself to support it, will make or break it. TypeKit is slated for release this summer (which is fast on the outset). I, for one, am sitting here holding my breath.⌘

Further Reading

When Free Fonts Aren’t Free
Skepticism about TypeKit⌘