The Typekit Blog

Earlier this month, we dropped some big news: Typekit is bringing fonts to the desktop. In the coming weeks leading up to launch, we will be featuring each foundry who has partnered with us for this initial release, highlighting some of the fonts that will be available.

Last week we featured Dalton Maag, a new Typekit partner for web as well as for desktop. Today we’re looking at one of Typekit’s very first foundry partners: FontFont.

FontFont was founded in 1990 by Erik Spiekermann and Neville Brody with the intent to provide a wide aesthetic range of expertly designed and technologically advanced digital typefaces to graphic designers all over the world. From the innovative FF Beowolf and FF Justlefthand to the now-classic serif typeface FF Scala, FontFont presented its variety early on and has continued down that path since.

Type specimen in Adobe Illustrator, using desktop-synced FF Tisa

FF Tisa, by designer Mitja Miklavčič, is a recent but important addition to the FontFont library. It was designed for use in digital media, its physical characteristics (high x-height, pronounced slab serifs, open forms) allowing it to render well at small sizes while its soft shapes provide a friendlier alternative to more formal serifs.

FF Tisa first arrived at Typekit in 2009, and has since become a staple of many a web designer’s toolbox. The four basic styles are available for the web—and when you need to switch gears from web design to graphics and print, they will also be available for desktop sync along with the more recently-released FF Tisa Sans, which makes for a great pairing.

FF Dagny type specimen in Illustrator, making use of the integrated Adobe Kuler palette

Another design to come out of FontFont in the last few years and quickly gain notoriety is FF Dagny. Designed originally by Örjan Nordling and later adapted into a complete font family by Göran Söderström, when FF Dagny was first released and licensed for the web, lamenters of the web-safe Arial soon recognized it as a superior alternative: a no-nonsense grotesque sans serif that reads better in body text while holding its own at larger sizes.

The entire FF Dagny family is available at Typekit for the web, and the basic four styles – regular, bold, and their italics – will be available for desktop sync.

Synced fonts will often include OpenType features, such as Tabular Figures

From two Typekit standbys to a new addition: FF Good Headline Condensed, designed by Łukasz Dziedzic. FF Good is an American Gothic with machine-driven quirkiness, and is best suited for use at display sizes. Typekit is now offering three weights plus italics for web use, and all six styles will be available for desktop sync.

Below is a complete list of families from FontFont that will be available for desktop sync. Add these fonts to your favorites so you can find them easily when we launch Typekit’s desktop sync feature next month, and use them on the web today. If you’ve never given Typekit a try, sign up (it’s free!) and upgrade to a paid plan whenever you’re ready.

• FF Dagny Pro
• FF Tisa Pro
• FF Tisa Sans Pro
• FF Good Headline Pro Condensed 
• FF Enzo
• FF Duper Pro
• FF Market
• FF Kava Pro
• FF More Pro
• FF More Pro Condensed
• FF More Pro Wide
• FF Spinoza Pro

Help us welcome Dalton Maag to Typekit. Renowned for the technical quality of their typefaces, the foundry is best known for corporate projects that include custom fonts for Ubuntu (an open source typeface already available on Typekit), Nokia, BMW, and the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. But Dalton Maag has been making typefaces for everyone since 1999. For starters, we have included Aktiv Grotesk, Effra, Foco, InterFace, Lexia, and Tondo Signage in the Typekit library.

Top to bottom: Lexia Regular, Black, and Regular. (source text)

A quiet, well-balanced slab serif, Lexia is available in six weights (with italics). Like many Dalton Maag faces, its subtlety is its strength: individual letterforms don’t draw much attention, and yet the typeface is full of details like slightly rounded serifs, right angles, and sharp terminals — details that often draw the wrong kind of attention when they’re overdone or inconsistent.

Tondo Signage Regular.

Tondo Signage is a single style of the small Tondo family, made specifically for display use (and drawn by Veronika Burian of TypeTogether fame). Unlike the rounded versions of some fonts, Tondo’s roundness is innate, and feels so; and, unlike many “friendly” display faces, it is impeccably balanced.

Aktiv Grotesk Bold. For body text, James Todd’s Garvis Pro seems pleasantly compatible (though your mileage may vary).

Designed as an alternative to Helvetica – Bruno Maag’s attempt to strike a balance between Helvetica and Univers – Aktiv Grotesk works in much the same way that these classic rationalist sans serif faces do: it is best used for headings and short copy at mid-to-large sizes. Aktiv Grotesk is available in seven weights ranging from Hairline to Black, with italics.

Add these Dalton Maag fonts to your favorites so you can find them easily when we launch Typekit’s desktop sync feature next month, and use them on the web today with a Typekit Portfolio plan or higher. If you’ve never given Typekit a try, sign up (it’s free!) and upgrade to a paid plan whenever you’re ready.

We’ve added many new fonts to the Typekit library — muscular and stylish seriffed faces, energetic sans serifs, and improved variations of TypeTogether’s Bree.

Top to bottom: Rooney Sans Regular, Black, Bold Italic (source text)

Jan Fromm’s Rooney Sans is the new, unseriffed sibling of his popular Rooney. Nimble, well-balanced, and available in twelve styles (from Light to Black, with italics), Rooney Sans is a rounded face that doesn’t feel goofy or incomplete. It sets especially well as large body text and midsize headings.

Freight Big Pro Light Italic, Freight Display Pro Bold

Two more members of the Freight family are now on Typekit — Freight Display and Freight Big, designed specifically for use at large sizes and served with PostScript-based outlines for smooth Windows rendering. Acute, stylish, and able to complement an array of text faces.

Top to bottom: Krete Regular, Black, Book Italic

Equal parts clunky and precise, Krete is a muscular and extremely handy seriffed face. The bluntly cut forms of its Regular provide an even texture in body text, with lowercase characters weighted to encourage the horizontal motion of reading. Available in six weights, with italics.

Iskra Bold and Medium Italic

TypeTogether’s chewy, tangy Iskra is a cosmopolitan, brush-inspired sans. Its italics wobble and flow like underwater plants, and its uprights can barely contain their exuberance. Iskra is a fun face with a forgiving rhythm that can accommodate lengthy headings and subheads.

Bree Bold in IE8 on Windows 7, with GDI ClearType rendering

Even more from TypeTogether: six styles of Bree (Light, Regular, and Bold, with obliques) have been manually TrueType hinted for crisp rendering at small sizes on Windows. These hinted Bree variations are excellent for wayfinding text like navigation, sidebar headings, and pull quotes. If you’re already using Bree, just republish your kits to receive the latest files.

We hope you enjoy using these new typefaces. If you’ve never given Typekit a try, sign up (it’s free!) and upgrade to a paid plan whenever you’re ready.

We’ve added several new fonts to the Typekit library, including painterly wood type and a contemporary blackletter face.

Cosmopolitan from Wood Type Revival was first cut by Morgans & Wilcox Manufacturing Co. in the 1890s. Now, more than 120 years later, it flourishes beautifully on the web — try shading it with CSS text-shadows.

Eskapade and Eskapade Fraktur from TypeTogether are a lovable serif and blackletter pair. Tall and sharp, these are fantastic for display use — and they make for smart, compact headings.

We hope you enjoy using these new typefaces. If you’ve never given Typekit a try, sign up (it’s free!) and upgrade to a paid plan whenever you’re ready.

Please join us in welcoming James Todd – and his typeface Garvis – to Typekit. Garvis is a mid-contrast text serif with a lively rhythm and good texture, and it works well across platforms thanks to manual TrueType hinting from James himself. Be sure to let James know that his hard work is appreciated.

Garvis Pro Book, with Italic heading (source text)

Garvis is available in four styles (Book, Italic, Semibold, and Bold). Upgrade to a Portfolio plan or higher to use it. If you’ve never tried Typekit, sign up (it’s free!) and upgrade when you’re ready.

Today, enjoy several new fonts from Typofonderie — including the celebrated AW Conqueror. Available in inline and chromatic “Carved” styles, as well as slab, serif, and sans, AW Conqueror is a multitalented titling face. We serve it with PostScript-based outlines for smooth rendering on Windows.

Top to bottom: AW Conqueror Didot, Slab, and alternating Sans/Inline

AW Conqueror Carved is assembled and ready, but some of its chromatic components are also available separately as AW Conqueror Carved One, Two, and Four. Layering chromatic type styles like these is easy, and can produce striking results.

Top to bottom: AW Conqueror Carved, Carved Two, Carved Four, and Carved One

In addition, four additional styles of Le Monde Courrier are now available: Book, Book Italic, Extra Demi, and Extra Demi Italic.

Upgrade to a Personal plan or higher to use these Typofonderie faces. If you’re already a paying Typekit customer, well, enjoy the new fonts! If you’ve never given Typekit a try, sign up (it’s free!) and upgrade to a paid plan whenever you’re ready.

Today we’re delighted to welcome Freight Micro to the Typekit library. This third member of Joshua Darden’s Freight superfamily (see also: Freight Sans, Freight Text) from Phil’s Fonts was designed for small sizes in print. On screen, its open, angular forms feel textured and rhythmic at small sizes. For larger headers, its sharp angles appear crisp and dynamic.

Top to bottom: Freight Micro Medium, Book Italic, Black Italic, and Light

Freight Micro is available in six weights, each with a matching italic. Its four basic styles (Book, Book Italic, Bold, and Bold Italic) have been manually TrueType hinted to render well at text sizes, and the remaining eight styles are served with PostScript-based outlines for smooth rendering at larger sizes.

Upgrade to a Portfolio plan or higher to use Freight Micro. If you’re already a paying Typekit customer, enjoy the new typeface! If you’ve never given Typekit a try, sign up (it’s free!) and upgrade to a paid plan whenever you’re ready.

Please join us in welcoming Monokrom to Typekit. Just two weeks ago, this new Norwegian foundry by Frode Helland and Sindre Bremnes opened its doors with a small catalog of thoughtfully crafted type — “high quality, original designs with a Nordic touch.” For starters, Faunus, Telefon, and Vinter are available in the Typekit library. These are for use at larger-than-body-text sizes, but are not all display faces.

Top to bottom: Vinter Regular and Italic, Telefon Bold, and Faunus

Each of these Monokrom typefaces is rich in character: Vinter evokes the sweeping chill of Norwegian wintertime; Telefon, the warmth and romance of a bygone visual language; and Faunus, the lively blend of pen, ink, sunlight, and earthy, wooded landscape. The Monokrom site has a page about each design.

Upgrade to a Portfolio plan or higher to use Monokrom fonts. If you’ve never given Typekit a try, sign up (it’s free!) and upgrade to a paid plan whenever you’re ready.

Today we’re happy to announce that many more original typefaces from Adobe are available on Typekit — including new optical sizes and styles of legendary typefaces like Arno, Brioso, Adobe Jenson, Kepler, Minion, Sanvito, Utopia, and Warnock, and an array of popular decorative fonts for display use. Browse and filter the entire Adobe catalog on Typekit.

Top to bottom: Kepler Condensed Display, Kepler Extended Display, Brioso Poster, Arno Display, Minion Condensed Display, Minion Black, and Utopia Headline

Stately and elegant, familiar and durable, the Adobe catalog is brimming with typefaces that do their jobs humbly and admirably. With optical styles for display use, subheads, and more, these beautiful typefaces will suit a variety of nuanced purposes — and the Kepler family takes the cake with four optical sizes, four widths, and six weights, for a total of 168 individually drawn styles.

Adobe has already refined the quality in many of its web fonts, and will continue to look for opportunities for improvement in the future. Every font meant for display use is served with PostScript-based outlines for smooth rendering in Windows. Display and Subhead opticals, as well as all decorative fonts, are offered this way.

Top to bottom: Willow Std, Blackoak Std, Postino Std, and Caliban Std

Tasteful novelty fonts can breathe life into a web experience, and the Adobe catalog offers many different, but equally well made, types for exactly that reason.

Select new Adobe fonts are available from our Trial plan, while others require an upgrade to Personal or higher. If you’re already a paying Typekit customer, well, enjoy them all! If you’ve never given Typekit a try, sign up (it’s free!) and upgrade to a paid plan whenever you’re ready.

The original version of Trajan is no longer available in the Typekit library. Earlier this year, Adobe Type released Trajan Pro 3 — a new, improved version of Trajan with four additional weights and extended language support. If you were planning to use Trajan in a project, try Trajan Pro 3. You can read more about Trajan Pro 3 in the blog post announcing its arrival at Typekit.

If you already have the retired version of Trajan in a kit, it will continue to work forever unless you remove it from the kit. You can make changes to the kit and republish normally. Trajan will not be automatically removed from existing kits or cease to show up in designs where it is being used. But for newly created kits, only the newer Trajan Pro 3 will be available.

As always, the Typekit team is available to answer questions via support@typekit.com.