is the original leader in premium web fonts. (They’re listed but are just links to the commercial sites where you have to pay for them.) Some of the fonts are great, but I’ve found many are lacking accent characters or just don’t seem to render well, as compared to commercial options.įor many small sites, they’re perfect, especially if you stick with the more venerable families like Museo, Open Sans, or Roboto (the last two were commissioned by Google, so they’ve got all of the parts that you expect in commercial fonts). Why not use free fonts all the time? Well, you won’t find Helvetica or Frutiger there. Usually only part of a font family will be released by a designer on Google.įor instance, the ubiquitous Museo font (seriously, take a good look at it and you’ll soon see it everywhere you go), has five weights, three are free and two are paid.
Google gets more data on web sites, which is its stock in trade, and designers get exposure.
#Webfont license license
They’re published under a license that allows them to be used on any web site, whether personal or commercial – Google requires this before they’ll serve the font. Often, you must also serve them only one web site. This means you pay for usage for a certain period of time and/or number of web site page views. The first thing to know is that fonts, like original illustration or music, are not sold by the artist – they’re licensed. The licensing can be confusing, though, so I’m going to give you an overview here. Today, these fonts can be served just like HTML files are. Until fairly recently, if a company wanted to use them on their web site, there were only clunky options. Examples include Helvetica Neue, Frutiger or Akzidenz Grotesk. Many large or long-standing companies depend upon fonts that have been in use for decades. Different designers and companies license fonts in vastly different ways and you have to read the license to really know what’s up.įont is central to brand identity. You don’t buy fonts, you license the right to use them.
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