Mars needs Opentype collections
April 5, 2006 6:37 AM Subscribe
Can anyone recommend a reasonably priced (around $300) Open Type Font collection that offers a good variety of non standard fonts for ad creation and page layout?
We already have the Adobe font folio, Open Type edition, which is good for basic stuff with a few trimmings. But we need more modern & artsy fonts, the stuff a graphic design team would use. Yes, we're specifically looking for Open Type collections, but if you think there's a Windows Type 1 collection that a designer just HAS to have, by all means recommend it
We already have the Adobe font folio, Open Type edition, which is good for basic stuff with a few trimmings. But we need more modern & artsy fonts, the stuff a graphic design team would use. Yes, we're specifically looking for Open Type collections, but if you think there's a Windows Type 1 collection that a designer just HAS to have, by all means recommend it
Response by poster: Thorzdad, you're saying that a Postscript Type 1 font works on either (or any) platform?
While I see your point about being versatile with basic fonts, having some "artsy" adds to the palette, gives you more options. Just different ways of working, I suppose.
I'm trying to stick with Open Type for ease of use use across platforms. Like I said, if there some a particular collection that was PC only, we'd go with that.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 8:50 AM on April 5, 2006
While I see your point about being versatile with basic fonts, having some "artsy" adds to the palette, gives you more options. Just different ways of working, I suppose.
I'm trying to stick with Open Type for ease of use use across platforms. Like I said, if there some a particular collection that was PC only, we'd go with that.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 8:50 AM on April 5, 2006
Brandon,
Yes, Type 1 fonts work cross platform. On a Mac, it's supported natively by the system (Macs support Type1, OpenType and both Win and Mac TrueType natively). In Windows, depending on the system and the software package, you might have to install something like Adobe Type Manager to get the system to play nice. Not sure if that's true about XP.
Please don't misunderstand, I'm not advocating an either-or solution to font styles. Lord knows I have several boatloads of arty, contemporary fonts. And they are very useful when needed. I guess I was sort of reacting to your comment "...we need more modern & artsy fonts, the stuff a graphic design team would use." That struck me that you were saying that designers only use the arty fonts. That raised a red flag which, the graphic design bull in me, lunged at. My bad.
posted by Thorzdad at 9:06 AM on April 5, 2006
Yes, Type 1 fonts work cross platform. On a Mac, it's supported natively by the system (Macs support Type1, OpenType and both Win and Mac TrueType natively). In Windows, depending on the system and the software package, you might have to install something like Adobe Type Manager to get the system to play nice. Not sure if that's true about XP.
Please don't misunderstand, I'm not advocating an either-or solution to font styles. Lord knows I have several boatloads of arty, contemporary fonts. And they are very useful when needed. I guess I was sort of reacting to your comment "...we need more modern & artsy fonts, the stuff a graphic design team would use." That struck me that you were saying that designers only use the arty fonts. That raised a red flag which, the graphic design bull in me, lunged at. My bad.
posted by Thorzdad at 9:06 AM on April 5, 2006
Check Chank.
oh ew. don't do that.
i've been expanding my own collection as well. a lot of foundries, while converting their collections into OT, aren't really utilizing the format well. most are ignoring the expanded character sets and discretionary ligature options.
go to village type and design, look around there. (disclaimer: my faces are sold through thirstype, which is part of village, but i'm not referring to those—i haven't converted my collections yet) the more recent designs have been very well thought. there's a new one called omnes that i kind of love.
also, fontbureau and fontshop have been releasing some well-made work in opentype lately.
for your price limit, you'll be a little hard-pressed to find a full-fledged OT collection—maybe more like a handful of well-made display pieces. many typographers (myself included) are charging more for OT versions of their families because 1) they're a lot more sophisticated to design and program, 2) they're cross-platform, so it's a bit of a revenue loss.
posted by patricking at 9:07 AM on April 5, 2006
oh ew. don't do that.
i've been expanding my own collection as well. a lot of foundries, while converting their collections into OT, aren't really utilizing the format well. most are ignoring the expanded character sets and discretionary ligature options.
go to village type and design, look around there. (disclaimer: my faces are sold through thirstype, which is part of village, but i'm not referring to those—i haven't converted my collections yet) the more recent designs have been very well thought. there's a new one called omnes that i kind of love.
also, fontbureau and fontshop have been releasing some well-made work in opentype lately.
for your price limit, you'll be a little hard-pressed to find a full-fledged OT collection—maybe more like a handful of well-made display pieces. many typographers (myself included) are charging more for OT versions of their families because 1) they're a lot more sophisticated to design and program, 2) they're cross-platform, so it's a bit of a revenue loss.
posted by patricking at 9:07 AM on April 5, 2006
This thread is closed to new comments.
Anyway...Most of the major type houses have OpenType versions of their collections (Monotype, ITC, Linotype, etc.) Complete collections, though, are going to cost more than you want to spend. However, most of the funky-fresh fonts I think you are looking for are going to be either Type 1 or TrueType. Postscript Type 1 is still the gold standard for print-based design. No real creative reason to limit yourself to OpenType.
As a designer, I collect fonts as I need them individually, except for the standard collections of basic, workhorse fonts. Frankly, a good designer can do much more with the basics than they ever can with specific, "artsy" fonts. I think you will find that, if you buy a large collection of "artsy" fonts, you'll end up only using a small fraction of the fonts you just bought. As I said, I think it's best to pick up a font individually as you need it.
Thank said, you might want to try this Google search for OpenType collections. There are quite a few nice fonts available. Phil's Fonts and TypeCulture have a nice selection of OpenType.
posted by Thorzdad at 7:36 AM on April 5, 2006