Typography in branding

Member lesson

Licensing for a brand at scale

Lesson 2 of 8 in Typography in branding.

Font Licensing: 3 Critical Rules for Designers · Pimp my Type
Lesson

What a font licence actually grants, and why desktop, web and app use are sold separately, is set out in "Licensing, EULAs and what you are actually buying" in the Typography module. This lesson is about what happens to those grants as a brand grows. Each is counted in its own unit, desktop by workstation, web by monthly pageviews or domains and app by title or installs, and every one of those units rises with success. A brand can be entirely compliant on the designer's laptop and entirely in breach on its own homepage.

desktopcounted in peoplewebcounted in viewsapp · broadcastcounted per titleyou are buying permission, not a file
What a font licence counts: desktop seats, web page views, app titles.
A large letter shape connects by dotted lines to a laptop, a browser window, a phone, an e-reader and a television, each with a ticket stub except the browser window, which has a cross.
One font reaches a laptop, a website, a phone, an e-reader and a television, and each use needs its own ticket. Here the laptop is covered but the website is not.
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Members answer these 3 questions and keep the ticket for this lesson. Every lesson has one.

  1. Question 1, locked

    A company bought its typeface properly and still cannot show that it is compliant. What is usually the problem?

    • Someone on the team installed a pirated copy years before the purchase
    • The foundry changed its terms after the money was paid
    • The company cannot produce the paperwork showing which grant it actually bought
    • The font was installed on more machines than the desktop tier allows
  2. Question 2, locked

    Which of these words means this? “Covers making artwork on a set number of computers. It does not cover your website, your app or your customers.”

    • Pairing
    • Desktop licence
    • Set solid
    • Optical size
  3. Question 3, locked

    Which of these words means this? “Usually priced on monthly pageviews. The one that quietly outgrows a startup.”

    • Primary typeface
    • Modification
    • Webfont licence
    • Tabular figures

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