1.
you may find this useful :
http://www.unc.edu/%7Ejbrady/Studio/FamiliarFaces/FamiliarFaces.html

1. the “average” results would probably be skewed by China and India. I would narrow the definition of average. Also what people “see” doesn’t mean they are the best selling. Graphic designers buy fonts, so those bundled with vinyl sign cutters, those used by books and newspapers, bundled with computers are probably not the best sellers.

5. Both Monotype Imaging and Bitstream are publically traded companies so you can probably get a good picture based on their annual reports.

1.
Sii is right, check the type on the waggon :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cRs_nnhBe4

Sii,

Age 12-75, still living, read and speak English as a first language.Sil,

And your right. See ≠ best selling. I’m not interested in sales. Just what they SEE the most. Sales has nothing to do with this question.

Why are you conducting this survey? If its for a Masters Thesis, may we have the title and abstract?

Most graduate surveys I have seen usually have some sort of anonymity involved.

“And your right. See ≠ best selling. I’m not interested in sales. Just what they SEE the most. Sales has nothing to do with this question.”

This is confusing; why is your thread title “How big is the font industry?” and why are you asking about annual revenues? If sales is of no interest, and visibility is the crucial point, then you are talking about exposure, perception, popularity, which, in western cultures, does not necessarily reflect anything about the “font industry”.

I say this because your questions seem unfocused, and my answers would have to be lengthy and include many caveats and questions in return. For example, what do you mean by “as common as Times”? Since Times is about 90 years old, and has been made available in every type format since its release, and has been included in all major personal computing platforms as a default since the early 80’s, it’s impossible to consider designing a typeface as widely used, or as easily available, or as thoroughly exposed as Times. This completely ignores the issue of what Times has historically proven to be worth in financial terms, or what you might pay as the total cost of a new design.

This is the tip of quite an iceberg.

This inquiry is: Poorly thought out. Poorly phrased.
Why does every Tom Dick and Harry think they can get a leg up on their research by posing such nonsense to internet discussion groups.

Alessandro,

Thank you for the link. Very helpful. It will make a great addition to my library.

1. Name the 10 most common typefaces the average living person has seen through out the course of their life. If you can’t name 10, just name as many as you can. Place them in order of frequency.

Arial
Times New Roman / Times Roman
Helvetica
Frutiger
Helvetica Neue
Franklin Gothic
Myriad
... etc.

2. Who sells number one on your list? If more than one person, company, foundry &c sells it, say so. Three references should do.

Microsoft/Monotype

3. About how much does it cost?

n/a. It’s bundled with Windows and Mac OS.

4. If you designed a font that was as common as Times New Roman and sold it as part of a business, what do you suppose would be your annual revenues from this font?

n/a. The very most ubiquitous fonts are bundled. I don’t think “Arial” is a best-seller. Additionally, all the typefaces in question are at least 25 years old.

5. For some industries it is not so hard to find out how large they are (sales; profits). Does anyone have any idea how large the typeface industry is on these dimensions?

Do you only include sales in English-speaking countries? Do you include commissioned work, or only retail sales?

Agree with terminal. This is just vague, fussy and lazy. I can’t decide which question is the stupidest.

Come on, Thomas, who ever sees Myriad?

How ’bout Aachen? It’s on every section of the NY Times? Lots of people see that, even in California!

Schoolbook was in every text book when I was a kid. Maybe, the times they are a’changin’.

Israel, maybe Simonson’s Grad ? ;-)

I agree with the general sentiments of many responses. Additionally, it would be more reliable actually research this, rather than solicite speculation and heresay from an internet group.

———————————-
Michael Browers
www.michaelbrowers.com

Alessandro,

> ...Simonson’s Grad?

see http://www.marksimonson.com/category/Font+News/

Phil Martin’s Grad from Mark Simonson Font Studios does look a lot by Century Schoolbook, just narrower. I always thought Schoolbook was way too wide. Those publishers just wanted the cost of textbooks to be higher!

People likely want to forget their textbook’s, so maybe it’s a bad choice.

How ’bout Futura?

Quite funny in here : http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1823766

Why does every Tom Dick and Harry think they can get a leg up on their research by posing such nonsense to internet discussion groups.

Because libraries are hard.

A silly thread but anyway...

Helvetica – it’s the whiff of the city, and a TV graphics fave.
TNR, Arial, Calibri, Courier, Consolas – corporate correspondence / e-mail
Highway Gothic - you can’t drive down the street without seeing it
Lucida, Podium Sans, Microsoft Sans Serif etc., – UI fonts
Georgia, Verdana – the Web
Various – newspapers, magazines, advertising, branding

The font industry is about >||< that big.

@ Sii, Highway Gothic - you can’t drive down the street without seeing it

... And that is rapidly being replaced by Terminal Design’s ClearviewHwy.

-=®=-

Here is a bit of history from the times of General Pica :
http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/1999/apr/01/features11.g24
The “Three point key to prosperity” by Geoffrey Taylor, described how the economy had boomed thanks to the phosphate industry, tourism, and oil.