“Mobile first” may be the hyped mantra for content distributors in 2014, but if the typeface aficionados at Monotype had their way — and they just might — they would have you leading with a type-first approach.
We recently invited Alin Jardim, Dan Rhatigan, Emily Elkins and Jay Loo from Monotype’s New York office to walk us through Membership, a newly released Web tool that puts typography at the fore.
Dan Rhatigan, studio director at Monotype, positioned the product within their 125-year history. Whether mechanizing how to melt and set type in the late 19th century or zealously producing new font types that are diverse in application, Monotype has been a reliable leader at the intersection of typography and technology.
Today, Monotype adds to their multifaceted, solutions-based approach with Membership, a product that offers a shared language for designers and developer alike.
Features that make designers — and developers — drool
- Over 35,000 quality fonts that can carry a brand consistently across all touch points and channels.
- Unlimited experimentation as you search, discover and use as many fonts as you like until you find the right one.
- Every typeface also has Web-font capability so text can be searchable, responsive and scalable online.
- Every typeface is cleared for desktop, Web and app-design use. Licenses are compliant from the start, priced consistently.
When talking about the new product, Rhatigan explains that much of the seed development was based on reducing frustration during the crosstalk within the production process.
“[We are] trying to better capture the designer’s decisions in the syntax that also makes sense for how that design gets built. So, designers can sift through the fonts, push things around and make some visual decisions in a way that is closer to what has to get built,” says Rhatigan.
By providing complete access to their expansive font library, this Web platform enables a design team to create beautiful work that is immediately reviewable, exportable and adapted across multiple devices.
After our own trial period, we will be sure to release a more nuanced product review from our perspective. For now, we’ll hold back from sharing anything beyond our excitement to be among the first to test a new wave of type-first thinking.
Stay tuned.
2 Responses to “Product Feature: Why We’re Gearing Up for a Trial of Membership by Monotype”
CHRistopher Buczek
Great piece on a great tool that allows web designers to test out monotype fonts in design before licensing them, and which creates a common ground for designers and developers to work together seamlessly. one Note: The “Membership” link embedded here does not work, but it does on the original confluence article.
Alex Horowitz
Thank you Christopher, glad you liked the piece! The story has been updated and link should be working now.