Categories
Uncategorized

The Lost Type CO-OP

lost-type-coopThe Lost Type Co-Op is a Pay-What-You-Want Type foundry, the first of its kind.” So reads the first line on their About Us page. I had to read their About Us page because I wanted to find out what the catch was. Here are several typefaces—many vintage-inspired—that I’d like to own and each has a pay-what-you-will price model that ruffled the skeptical feathers on this bird. But there’s no catch. The Lost Type Co-Op really does sell high quality fonts designed for print and sometimes web use (@font-face) for whatever price—including zero dollars—you are willing to pay. Upon entering the amount and clicking the DOWNLOAD button on a particular font’s page, your download starts immediately and you are then redirected to PayPal to complete your order. Yes, your product is delivered before you finished paying for it. I was so moved by this extension of trust and gratitude that I went back and bought a few more faces, each time my PayPal payment was going directly to the designer of the font, not to a Lost Type account. Now that is how to run a type co-op. Kudos to these folks for ushering in an exciting new business model for an ever evolving industry. My picks: Bemio, Ranger and Sullivan.