Choosing a typeface for an international organisation (that isn't rich)

maaike's picture

Hello!

I've had a Typophile account for quite a while, though I've not posted much. But now I'm working on a project and I'd really appreciate your input.

I've been asked by an international not-for-profit organisation to work on their corporate identity. Right now they've got a logo, but that's about all. There are no identity guidelines or even a standard typeface.

So, one of the first things I want to do is choose a typeface. But it's hard, because of a couple of things that must be reckoned with:

- The organisation isn't very large (not many employees), but it's very international, people all over the world will have to work with this typeface. Therefore I'm looking for something with a very broad characterset that supports as many languages as possible.
- They are willing to buy some licences, but they're not rich and many people working with this identity are actually volunteers. So I'm looking for a solution that isn't expensive. In their headquarters they've got Indesign CS4, so they own a couple of licenses for the fonts that come with it.
- They asked me to take into account their newly redesigned website, which uses Georgia (mainly for headlines) and Arial (mainly for body copy).

It's quite a puzzle!
Ideally I'd like to continue using both a serif and a sans serif typeface, like in the website. But since buying licenses for 1 font for everyone might be a problem, specifying 2 paid-for fonts will not be appreciated.

I've considered continuing using Georgia and Arial. By far the cheapest and most convenient option (they've both got a large character set and nearly everybody with a pc owns them). But Georgia was made for screen (although I must say, I rather like it in print) and doesn't have small caps - and I hate Arial.

Another solution could be to use Minion and Myriad - they've got everything I need and some of our future users already own them. But I think they're a bit lacking in personality.

I've looked at Gentium, which is free and looks quite promising, but it's not quite ready yet.

I wonder what you all think, and if you can think of other options?
All input would be greatly appreciated.

Dunwich Type's picture

What languages do these fonts actually need to support?

jonathanhughes's picture

What does the organization do?

maaike's picture

Thanks for your attention :-)
It's an organization for libraries all over the world. This means theoretically: all languages. But I don't think that's very realistic. More reasonable might be: Western and Eastern European, Greek and Cyrillic languages.
Most of their communication is in English, but they also publish brochures in Russian en Arab.

Nick Shinn's picture

My Modern Suite fonts support the Latin, Cyrillic (with Asian Cyrillic) and Greek (with Polytonic) scripts, if you're looking for an alternative to Apple/Adobe/Microsoft.
But I'm afraid I don't give them away! However, I am always willing to consider specific licensing proposals.

Also suitable: Old Standard.

Bendy's picture

I work in an international organisation and use Myriad and Minion for the exact same reasons you mention :) You could always substitute Arno for Minion if you want more personality.

J.Montalbano's picture

Maaike,

I'm curious to find out what your organization feels it can afford for such a license.

satwik's picture

I agree with Bendy. Myriad and Minion are a really good idea but considering it is for libraries, Arno can be substituted to get a much better look

maaike's picture

Thanks for your replies!
I'm still trying to find out how many people will need to work with these fonts and how much money is available for licenses.
I've been in touch with Fontshop about fonts with large character sets and, in case anyone else is curious, they've come up with these options:

  • FF Din Pro
  • FF Meta Pro
  • FF Kievit Pro
  • FF Maiola Pro
  • FF Daxline Pro
  • Helvetica World

Arno is a good suggestion, too! Unfortunately it isn't included with CS4, so I don't even own it myself (yet), having upgraded from CS2 to CS4... I will go and look for it, though.

Florian Hardwig's picture

Hi Maaike,
here’s a table with detailed information about the language skills of FontFonts:
http://fontfeed.com/archives/opentype-fontfonts-and-the-languages-they-s...

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