Themes for sale – Fonts

[Vitaly]

Hello everybody!

Does anyone here sell themes on Themeforest or some other places? How do you deal with fonts when you develop a theme for multiple potential users? I doubt that you use some paid hosting service. Do you prefer to embed fonts into your theme or use some free hosting service?

How do you choose web-fonts at an early stage when working in Photoshop or Illustrator? How to make sure that the fonts you choose are supported by all popular browsers and operating systems and render well in all of them.

I have seen some video courses on the topic from Lynda, but they pay much attention to the Typekit hosting service and other paid providers. But, as long as my themes are intended for a wider public, I believe, Typekit and similar providers are not an option. If I were deciding on fonts for my own web-site I wouldn’t hesitate using them.

So, the major problem is how to provide quality fonts to multiple customers, and how to make the right decision at the very beginning. Is there any step by step guide or best practices?

Thank you in advance for any help.

[Paulie_D]

I would design with generic fonts unless specifically told that something more enhanced would be required.

Of course, there may be exceptions but unless something specific is required…..why cause more trouble for yourself?

[chrisburton]

I disagree with using ‘generic fonts’. That’s not how typography works.

You don’t need a Typekit subscription to use better quality fonts from their library. They have a free option as well (limited options). Not all of them are great but they have a better choice than what you would get with Google’s webfonts.

From what I’ve seen, most theme designers use Google fonts. We all know they lack in quality but there are a few that render quite well. Steve Matteson is a well established Type Designer with impressive fonts under his portfolio (Droid Sans/Serif, Open Sans, Noto Sans, Segoe, etc). But that doesn’t give you much diversity.

Have you ever thought of talking to foundries or just the Type Designers themselves about working out a deal?

You could always use typefaces that work best with your theme from whatever webfont distributor you choose. Then, just attach a disclaimer that you’re using (hopefully) quality webfonts from INSERT DISTRIBUTOR NAME HERE which have been paid for. However, these should not be available in the download unless you have permission.

[Vitaly]

Thank you, guys, for your help. Think the thing with a disclaimer should work.

[chrisburton]

Just make sure you link to where the person can purchase the webfonts you’re using.

[Author]

Posts