After nearly 6 years in operation, Fontdeck is retiring. The professional webfont service allowed designers the unique capability to preview fonts in their web design and therefore “test” the font before having to commit to a purchase. They were influential in the support of web foundries such as Fontsmith, Colophon, Jeremy Tankard and A2-Type, by showing type designers there was a new marketplace for their work on the web.
Fontdeck is a joint venture between Clearleft and OmniTI, as of right now neither companies have the resources to move Fontdeck forward. They have decided to retire the company to avoid withering away amongst designer’s current needs and demands.
“More speed, more tailoring of fonts, case-by-case subsetting, specifying OpenType features, hinting only where necessary, WOFF2, flexible pricing options, and more besides. As a webfont service we felt it was incumbent upon us to be providing all this to our paying customers, and as web designers we felt this was the kind of service we should be receiving.”
The company expressed in their blog their effort to “do the right thing’ by continuing to serve fonts until 1 December 2016, giving everyone 12 month to find other sources of their fonts. As of December 2015 they will no longer accept new accounts, project upgrades, or font purchases.
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