This article was published on February 1, 2013

SkyFonts launches to let designers sample fonts and rent them by the day


SkyFonts launches to let designers sample fonts and rent them by the day

There are thousands of fonts available for designers and developers to use free-of-charge, but for those with a penchant for perfection, the choice of typeface is imperative to any final design. And often this means having to fork out funds for new fonts.

To help creatives decide on the best fonts for them, US company Monotype Imaging Holdings finally launched its font-rental service to the public last month, as noted by Springwise, letting designers experiment by trying-before-buying, or simply hiring fonts by the day.

SkyFonts debuted with an inventory of more than 8,000 fonts, and you can try them for free for up to five minutes in conjunction with any desktop app, or consume pre-loaded credits to rent fonts for as long as you need them. When the trial or rental period expires they’re automatically deleted from the user’s system.

SkyFonts

SkyFonts has been available in beta for some time, and its commercial launch a few weeks back introduced a new credit-based pricing model. A single credit, bought in advance, can be used to rent a font for one day, while three credits can be used to rent a font for one month.

In terms of pricing, credits come in packs of 15 or more, costing $3.00 per credit, which can come down in price if bought in bulk. They expire after a year if they’re not used.

“In addition to renting fonts economically, we understand that trying fonts is critically important to customers,” explains Chris Roberts, vice president and general manager of Monotype’s e-commerce group. “Though many trialing options exist, SkyFonts succeeds like no other by allowing users to experiment with the actual fonts. We believe this could redefine the way designers search for type, while significantly altering the way fonts are purchased.”

There are, of course, similar services already available, but combining the trying with renting is an interesting approach. FontShop, for example, is a Photoshop plugin for designers to try 150,000 fonts for free, though this is all geared towards buying the font.

Meanwhile, check out the official promo video for SkyFonts below.

SkyFonts

Feature Image Credit – Thinkstock

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