With the launch of iPadOS 13 last year, custom fonts came to Apple’s tablet—and now Fontstand is launching a new app billed as the most advanced of its kind.
Fontstand for iPad will grant users access to a massive library of typefaces from 50 foundries that can be used across a variety of programs, from Keynote to Photoshop.
“There are three times as many active iPad users as there are desktop Mac users,” Fontstand co-founder Peter Biľak says. “Fontstand’s ambition has always been to introduce professional-quality typefaces to new audiences, and supporting iPadOS lets us reach many people who have never licensed fonts before.”
The desktop app launched in 2015 with the aim of becoming the iTunes of the digital font marketplace, giving users the ability to rent quality typefaces affordably—and seeking to address problematic issues prevalent in the type design industry, such as piracy and cost barriers to casual users. The Fontstand model allows users to try fonts for free, and then rent them for 10% of their regular price for 30 days. Fonts can be shared with another team member for 2% more (benefitting small studios), and any font rented for 12 months becomes permanently available to the user. Participating foundries in the project include PampaType, Indian Type Foundry, OH no Type Co., Production Type, Process Type Foundry, House Industries, Emigre, DSType, TypeTogether and many more.
Current users of the Fontstand desktop app can use their fonts on the iPads for free. And the iOS app comes with a new pricing plan option, as well—for $4.99 per month, users can access a library of more than 1,600 families.
“For a person like myself that designs fonts,” Biľak says, “it is a big deal.”
Check out the app here.
