Your client needs a nice font

Today, a typical Windows installation contains about a hundred fonts, most of them of good quality, both design and technical. They certainly fulfil their purpose and are adequate for the majority of everyday home users.

So, how do you convince a client to invest in the typeface that you have sourced and chosen for their new identity? Dalton Maag has worked with many design agencies and during this process gained insight into what makes a Finance Director part with money.

As designers, our strongest argument is that a typeface other than Arial is going to improve the look and feel of the company; the careful choice of the type will reflect the attitudes and values of the company. We can also appeal to the client’s vanity by suggesting that the font name contain the name of the company - who doesn’t like to see their name on their computer. But a carefully selected typeface will also unify the brand throughout different media, and in the case of a multinational corporate, throughout different languages.

Particularly in the case of large enterprises, Dalton Maag is able to suggest cost effective ways for the client to have their own typeface. It is our experience that the cost of a font family is usually only in the region of about 5% of the overall cost of the identity exercise. Yet the benefits far outweigh the costs. We are able to help source or even to design a typeface that will save money.

It has been suggested that it is not so much the cost of purchasing or commissioning a font, but the cost of implementation throughout the company that is of concern. We can suggest ways of lessening the impact of implementation simply by coordinating the installation of the new fonts with the installation of software updates, or the installation of the templates in the new identity.

IT managers are always wary of installing new software, particularly fonts. The client will say that Arial will work and that it is proven. We have worked with some of the world’s largest companies and we have always been able to find a solution to the client’s problems. And if the client buys the fonts from us, or commissions the fonts from us, this support comes at no extra cost.

Dalton Maag can help you best if you involve us at the very beginning of your project. Not only will you benefit from our typographic expertise, but we will be giving you the right advice on design and technology to ensure a successful project. This won’t cost you any more, and may save money. Involving Dalton Maag and our typefaces adds value to your work and your client’s brand.

Flying is funky

The new AIRMILES identity relies on simple but effective typography, and on fresh, bright colours. London agency Lambie-Nairn developed the wordmark based on a dot style typeface, in caps only. Dalton Maag helped the design agency to expand the basic design to a full cap alphabet, numerals and punctuation characters.

One of the main elements of the logo is the fading element that follows the AIRMILES word. This allows for the wordmark to stand alone, or to be followed by an expression or place name, for example.

The dot matrix design mirrors the modern nature of this service as it suggests the pixels on a computer screen or the hole-punch of a ticket. It also allows for an infinitely flexible approach to creating graphic elements.

Dalton Maag created an OpenType font that now can be widely used by the client in both internal and external communications, in print and on screen. The wordmark and the fading element are accessible via keystroke allowing all involved quick and easy access to the new brand element.

Linotype OpenType CD

Like many type foundries, our partner Linotype are gradually switching their font library to the increasingly popular OpenType font format. The Library OpenType 1.0 Bundle consists of approximately 2500 fonts of which some are from other libraries. In order to make it easier for a customer to purchase a font update, individual library CDs can be purchased also. The four collections are as follows:

• Linotype Originals contains some of the most popular typefaces such as Helvetica, Sabon, and Frutiger; by some of the best know designers.
• Take Type Collection is a type library with fonts from Linotype’s successful type design competitions. This collection primarily presents typefaces by young and innovative designers. It is a great opportunity to find a typeface that not everyone is using yet.
• ITC Collection is a CD that combines both the well established ITC library as well as Letraset’s Fontek library. Distinguished type designers such as Ed Benguiat and Colin Brignal have contributed to the success of this type library.
• Assorted Collection contains some popular typefaces from other suppliers such as Adobe Systems Inc, Monotype Imaging and many others. Some of the familiar typeface names are Minion, Myriad, Bembo, Gill, Rockwell and many more.

Many of the fonts in these collections have extended language support for Eastern Europe, Greek and Cyrillic. For pricing and licensing information please contact info@daltonmaag.com.

Fargo renamed to Viato

Viato is the new name for our recently updated font family formerly known as Fargo. The name change was agreed in the spirit of goodwill and cooperation after we learned that some customers confused the name of our Fargo with that of Fontshop's FF Fago. While we wouldn't usually change the name of an established font family, we don't want to cause confusion with other fonts of a similar name; so in this case we'd like to introduce you to a revised and refreshed Viato.