Where to Sell Fonts to Make Real Money
Where to sell fonts that can make money for designers?
From the daily news you see on the television to the daily scrolling of the page on Instagram, you see fonts.
Have you ever wondered where these fancy fonts you see come from?
Whether you are a digital artist or love sketching, or experimenting with fonts, earning money from this hobby is impossible.
If you have the skills and an eye for good design, you could sell fonts online and profit.
There are some factors to consider, such as a place where to sell fonts.
Table of Contents
BASICS OF FONTS
For beginners at this kind of creative craft, make sure that you have the basics covered.
Designing and selling a font is more complicated than it seems, especially when you are still learning about font and typefaces.
Knowing the basics will give you a strong foundation, and it will be a big factor as you wade through the business of font designing and selling.
The first thing to know is the definition of a font.
According to an article from Emroy Creative Group, a font is a set of characters that consists of letters, punctuation marks, and symbols.
Some font sets only have letters, while some just have punctuation marks, symbols, or even modified images.
In the world of font, weight and style are common terms.
Weight means the thickness and thinness of each character.
You can categorize it as light, regular, or bold.
Another font has ultra-light and extra bold weights.
Font Styles
Style, on the other hand, is the shaping of each character.
Style can be categorized as italicized, condensed, or extended.
There are also types of main families of a font – Serif and Sans serif.
Serif means the tiny strokes that can be seen at the end of each character, while Sans serif is what you call a font that doesn’t have this feature.
For example, if the capital letter “I” has two small horizontal lines on one of each end of a long vertical line, it is considered Sans serif.
If it is only a straight vertical line, it is a serif.
In choosing between a Serif and Sans serif font, be mindful of the general rule: Serif fonts are usually used for body text-it is easier to read, while Serif can be used in titles and slogans because of its bold and direct to the point nature.
You can read more of the detailed basics about fonts in this website article.
Now that you got the foundations covered, you can check where to sell your font.
Creative Market
A community of creators of graphics, themes, and fonts is excited to welcome you.
You can make a few bucks regularly for yourself when you join this legitimate market for fonts.
Creative Market is one of a few online marketplaces for products digitally made.
Creative artists that specialize in crafting digital products such as fonts can open shop on this platform and sell their products.
Here are a few benefits when selling fonts at Creative Market.
Creators consider it their niche marketplace.
Unlike other popular marketplace for fonts, you can’t feel Creative Market as a jungle of digital products.
Whether you’re the artist or the buyer, transactions made are done smoothly.
And there is no feeling of being overwhelmed by the market’s products.
You can call yourself legit when you join Creative Market.
A creator first goes through a strict vetting process before starting his shop at this marketplace.
Creative Market follows a set of standards for sellers and their products, and for one to get approved, consider yourself the best.
You are only given the best of the best in Creative Market.
A good example is this Uperty font from Delightful Design.
Experience their website’s phenomenal user experience.
This marketplace can guarantee you a smooth and neat experience at selling fonts.
It’s so organized that you won’t feel bombarded with unnecessary things while making money for yourself.
While there’s a lot of pros at Creative Market, there’s also a downside to it.
A considerably huge part of your profit will go to Creative Market itself.
In every product that you sell at their marketplace, they get a 40% commission from it.
This is the primary reason digital artists would venture outside of Creative Market once they can test the waters of the digital market.
Font Foundry
The most common way of selling fonts is by joining a FONT FOUNDRY.
It means you’ll be marketing your work within that site by coordinating pricing agreements.
So the idea when you join a foundry is you’ll get some help in selling your fonts while they get a specific percentage from the profit.
To make it simpler, it will act as a vendor or publisher of your amazing fonts.
Certain foundries offer packages of design services that come along with a purchase too.
Here are some of its interesting benefits.
It will help your work reach multiple channels.
The wider the audience definitely, the better.
It will be suitable for those who may not have any idea about business or any marketing experience since most of the foundry will take care of all the administrative tasks.
It offers technical assistance in completing your font.
You may find some of them that may help you accomplish the idea that you have in mind for your font.
By drawing directly on the software, then take a picture and polish it up using an image editing application like Photoshop or GIMP, which are also free.
You will have author rights and protections from pirates.
One thing that you don’t want to happen is for someone to copy your designs.
Joining a foundry will protect your work against piracy
Set your price.
Foundries have a wide range of customers that will allow your fonts to be seen more often.
And given the fact that you have this advantage and at the same time choose the price that you want for your fonts is a plus.
All you need to do is to research and be familiar with the pricing agreements.
Here are some articles for your reference in choosing a font foundry.
The 13 Best Type Foundries Every Web Designer Should Check Out
10 Best Type Foundries of 2020
Working with A Reseller
Now, this method is somehow related to the first one mentioned.
The role of resellers is to look for foundries and make a contract to sell them.
Usually, they have a target market of customers that is looking for a specific font style.
Some examples of resellers include MyFonts and Fonts.com.
If you notice while looking for a font, then if it redirects you to a different website, you’ll know that it is a reseller.
Experience these benefits if you wish to work with a reseller.
Deal with Multiple Resellers
Unlike joining a font foundry, most resellers may allow you to sign with as many resellers as you want and market your fonts.
They will then make sure to sell your creation to as many foundries as possible.
Wider Audience
Reselling companies already have a great relationship and contract with major foundries.
This makes resellers great in delivering your fonts through a larger scale of customers.
Better Payment Policies
In this method, resellers would deal with a font foundry to sell fonts on its library.
Around 40 to 65% of the font’s retail price will go to the foundry, but designers still have control in pricing.
Choose Your Niche
Designers have their unique way of creating art, and this is the same thing in designing a font.
While looking for a reseller, you may then find a perfect one that caters to your style.
All you have to do is research the reseller’s technique in marketing your fonts and if you are fine about how they do it.
If you finally decided to go with a reseller, here are some helpful links that you can check for more details.
How to Make Money Marketing Your Font
Becoming a Font Designer
To gain more experience while in art school, many designers are doing an apprenticeship and later may get a job.
Though most businesses choose to work with freelancers, you would still have an edge to be formally employed as a Font designer if you have a degree.
Given the experience you had as a student, this idea may not be that intimidating.
Companies will not hesitate to hire you if you have a high portfolio.
More likely, being employed as a font designer will allow you to learn more from your colleagues and the company’s training.
Pros in Becoming an Employed Font Designer
- Exposure to more projects
If you are a young designer, this is a perfect opportunity to learn about font designing.
It will broaden your concepts as you will learn more techniques in designing.
- Learn from your colleagues
Working closely with a team is not something everyone has a chance to experience.
You will get the chance to be with people who can guide you and share their own culture in making art.
- Sure income
Unlike freelancing, being employed will give you peace of mind in terms of making money.
You don’t have to deal with any advertisement and pricing the fonts.
- Added benefits
You’ll have standard benefits such as health insurance and paid vacations.
Some companies are generous enough to send you to some workshops to enhance your skills, and you need not spend even a dime for it.
Now, after building your portfolio, becoming a font designer can be your next career path.
To get yourself more equipped on type designing, here are a few reference links.
Market Your Fonts Independently
Just like any other product, you can also sell your designs independently.
If negotiating with clients and not new in the business, this idea may not be new.
Nowadays, you can easily find a marketing strategy on the internet that will serve as your guide.
Your usual clients may be businesses looking for something unique and fresh fonts that suit their style.
You must be ready to invest more time, money, and patience since you will be handling everything all by yourself.
Pros in Going Solo
- Everything is all yours
You don’t have any company to share your earnings.
Since all the efforts are just coming from you alone, you deserve all the income generated.
- Decide what you do with your fonts.
You get to manage and make creative decisions in all aspects and elements of your business.
There is no need to think about policies to follow regarding marketing strategy, pricing, etc.
- Customer-Centric
Communicating directly with the client will result in a long term relationship.
They can easily book you for another project again in the future.
- Branding
As the font owner and your designs, you can freely express yourself, and it would reflect in your brand.
You have the freedom to build your niche that will be recognized by your clients.
Here are some links for more details.
Top Tips for Selling Your Designs Online
Type as Business: How Much Does It Cost to Make a Font?
Make It Your 9 to 5
Most font designers make fonts during their spare time while having a different day job.
If you are a beginner in font designing and want to gain more experience as an artist, you can apply in a design house or an advertising firm.
While being hired, you can also use the time and resources to learn more about your chosen career and develop your skills.
Nevertheless, it’s quite hard for an artist to get a job.
Most design firms have their design staff or team, and more often than not, the job positions are just limited.
To save money, some companies also hire freelancers in a short period rather than hire full-time staff.
Now, if you’re lucky and land a job as a font designer, it will be a huge leap in your font designing career.
You will meet many people with the same interests, and you pick from their brains and apply it to your workflow.
In your employment, you will also develop work habits that will make you a professional.
Virtues such as patience and hard work will be helpful, especially if you have plans to go solo.
You will also know how to handle customers or interact with resellers because you already have experience in the corporate world.
Plus, you don’t have to worry about money if you are hired.
Based on a MasterBundles article, an entry-level graphic designer in the US would earn around $35K annually.
You can also benefit from corporate-mandated health insurance, paid vacations, and more.
Announce It to The Digital World
After creating a market-ready font, you can first advertise it to your circle.
Several people from that 600 Facebook friends of yours might need a fresh font in their small business.
You can also post in the Marketplace or join Facebook groups in the font designing business and advertise your product.
In Instagram, where visuals matter most, you can take advantage of the platform by packaging an attractive branding image or video to advertise your font.
Create sample designs using the font to give your followers an idea of how usable your font can be.
Make use of popular hashtags so that your posts can be searchable in the Instagram explore section.
If you know someone who has a lot of Facebook friends, Instagram, and Twitter followers, you can request or pay them to advertise the font.
Social media influencers can also be an effective tool to make the font popular.
Do Quality Check
Sure, there are many ways to create your font, and there are more avenues where you can sell it.
However, one important factor is whether the font will make it or break its quality.
Like any other product, buyers and resellers often look at the font’s quality before buying or peddling it.
As a font designer, it is your responsibility to oversee this aspect of your font to ensure marketability.
You can use many ways for a creative artist to ensure that your font will be top quality and market-ready.
Consider first the cleanliness of your font.
This may vary from different font designers and users, especially that there are messy and chaotic fonts.
But all can agree that cleanliness can pertain to the consistency of the font family.
For example, one character is smooth, then it is expected for the rest of the letters.
A tiny irregular line or a curve can make the font amateurish.
Next to consider is the kerning.
According to fonts.com, kerning refers to the spacing between the two characters of your font.
As you all know, the characters have different looks and widths.
The letter “I” is thinner than the letter “O.”
The letter “A” can be placed awkwardly with “V.”
How these letters adjust their space to look balanced depends on how you put proper kerning.
Proper kerning entails a lot of work and time in doing the math and measuring.
You can discover more about kerning from professional font designers in this article from Creative Bloq.
Eye Test
After designing a full set of fonts, you can use it in an article and do an eye test.
Here are tips from MasterBundles on how to this test:
- If there are difficulties encountered when reading the article at a normal distance, increase your font size.
- Consider decreasing the font size if you get distracted by its characters instead of smoothly reading the article.
- Adjust the leading, or the vertical space between two characters, and kerning if the letters are too close from each other.
- You may also consider increasing or decreasing the font’s weight, or the thickness or thinness, of each character based on the eye test.
The last thing you can do to ensure that your font is good to go is to test its waters.
Test it Out
You can let your friends use it and let them comment on ways to improve your font.
An expert’s opinion or even a reseller, who has more technical knowledge about fonts, can help in doing quality checks on your product for you.
Now that you are all set with your font display it to the market.
Wait for your hard work and patience to profit.
Final Thoughts
We hope that our list where to sell fonts has given you an idea as to which foundry to entrust your typeface masterpiece.
Do tell us your choice in the Comments section
For more helpful articles on, do check our list below.
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