“A type foundry is a company that designs or distributes typefaces. Before desktop publishing, type foundries manufactured and sold metal and wood typefaces and matrices for line-casting machines like the Linotype and Monotype machines designed to be used with letterpress printers.” – Wikipedia.
As a designer, it is important to support refreshing type design- it can be a great source of inspiration. Type foundries are companies that provide viewers with a digital lookbook of a variety of typefaces. One of the many type foundries I found attractive is called Commercial Type.
Commercial is a joint project out of New York and London created by Paul Barnes and Christian Schwartz. The two have collaborated and created various award-winning typeface projects since 2004. Their website publishes typefaces to be sold which are developed by their staff, outside collaborators, as well as Schwartz and Barnes themselves.
The website features a premium array of professional, charismatic typefaces, all available for purchase. The website also offers other content such as a typeface-related newsfeed, merchandise shop, a detailed note about licenses, and a rainbow-colored, animated page dedicated to showcasing the fonts available on the site.
I found this page to be the most creative- one is able to select a typeface of choice and enter a last name and number to be displayed in the different font families available in the selected font, as well as a random selection of color scheme to help the viewer visualize it being used in a project. Each font selection will lead you to a unique, interactive display of your text.
For example, “Druk” page gives you your text displayed in all caps, lowercase, or a fill-the-page bold option. “Duplicate Ionic” pictured above will duplicate your text across the page. “Dala Floda” on the other hand provides one with their text displayed at the press of a piano note… each note sounds and displays your choice of word toggling between font families (picture below). What a fun way to not only view, but play with typeface.
I found this site to be extensive in its quality and showcasing ability. No wonder the typefaces prices are so steep.
Typography Fall 19 