Methodology

Criteria for inclusion

Atlas of Type focuses on active independent type designers/foundries distributing their fonts themselves, or via a handful of reputable partners. Some demarcations:

• active: having released a typeface in the past decade, making 2015 the cut-off year.
• independent: not owned by monopolistic entities.
• reputable partners: currently Future Fonts, I Love Typography, Type Network, Fontstand, and Adobe Fonts.

At the moment there’s no system in place for retiring existing entries from the Atlas when changes in status occur.

Data gathering

I rely on a combination of sources to keep up with new typefaces releases:

• foundry newsletters
• RSS feeds
• fediverse posts
• recent releases on FS, FF, AF, TN, ILT

I also periodically check for omissions with other type news outlets: Typecache, the Identifont blog, Proof&Co.’s Weekly Ledger, etc.

To obtain the basic facts about a typeface, I start by looking at the information provided by the foundry or designer:

• the dedicated page on the foundry’s website;
• the PDF specimen;
• the trial font metadata;
• announcements on social media, depending on the access whims of each platform on that particular day.

I also corroborate the information with high-quality sources such as Fonts in Use and Future Fonts.