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Design Brand Identity Basics Finalizing the Project Brand Guidelines: Part 1

gcwelborn
gcwelborn
11,076 Points

don't include font files with final brand asset delivery?

I'm curious as to why including the font files the client most likely paid for would be wrong.

Wouldn't another designer in the future would be able to use the files again and save the client money. Are end-user license agreements commonly found to be this restrictive?

2 Answers

Realistically it is the client's responsibility to purchase the typefaces and fonts.

You do not give them a copy of your fonts if it breaks an end user license.

Typically I do not give these assets to the client unless they are explicitly purchasing them, I would give them vector outlines if it is a logo or one-off display usage. In these cases, generally, the client is not equipped to handle the files.

If the idea is that they could pass along files to a different designer then they need to handle their own licensing. It would be odd for them to have paid you to purchase a typeface.

Rather, I use typefaces that I own and once approved I can present them with billables and handle purchasing if they need me to, but they're easily capable of doing that given foundry info and instructions.

If I remember correctly the point of the video statement was a generalization that you don't just give clients copies of your fonts (unless the license allows it).

When you purchase a font, you are purchasing the license to use. You use it to design someone who is paying you for your service, and you download it onto your machine. Sending the files along is a form of piracy, technically. If the client needs the font they will need to purchase their license to use it, unless you can provide something they won't need it for (optimized images, webfont licensing).

The only way around this (legally and ethically speaking) I could see would be purchasing the license in their name, using it to design for them and sending all of the files to them and deleting them off of your computer. This would prevent you from being able to use it again for further design needs.

Hope this helps!

Stephanie van Doleweerd
Stephanie van Doleweerd
3,075 Points

This is really the way that makes the most sense. Why would the designer need to own the font license?

As a website developer I'm often stuck not being able to match a font for a client later - sign companies and print shops often lose their files, or go out of business. When the client needs me to make print materials or a website for them, I can't access the font. And often the client has no idea what font was originally used, so I find myself looking for the next closest thing on whatthefont.com, or paying a contractor to vectorize their wordmark so we can at least reuse it.

My thinking is the service providers should have a copy JUST for use with that client, the client should have their own copy for safekeeping, but the client should own the license.