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NBC, you've been a very bad boy. (Or boys. And girls. Whatever.) Bottom line: using unlicensed fonts when you're a major corporation is NOT cool.

The television network is being sued by Font Bureau, a highly respected type foundry, for unlicensed use of several typefaces. If you've been watching NBC lately, you may have noticed they're using new fonts for episode trailers in between shows. Saturday Night Live also had a slight design facelift (although I believe that logo uses Gotham, which is a Hoefler & Frere-Jones font). According to Font Bureau, who provided NBC with several of their typefaces, the network is taking a lot of liberties with their allowed use of these fonts.

 

 

You might be thinking: okay, so? They paid for it. They can do what they want. Font licensing varies depending on foundries' specifications, but it was invented essentially to protect designers. It takes an excruciatingly long time to design a typeface (font), and, like any product, designers and the firms they work for earn money by selling what they create.

The International Typeface Corporation (ITC) was originally founded by several designers in order to better market, license, and protect their work. Here's an excerpt of ITC's explanation of font licensing:

Alright, as a designer, I admit I've occasionally gotten some free fonts for whatever project I was working on in college...and they originally cost money...and I didn't technically pay for all of them. But come on, this is NBC! They have money, lots of it! And these fonts are being used in major branding campaigns seen by most of the nation!

Anyway, check out the article at Cityfile. Allegedly NBC had permission to use these fonts on ONE computer. Now, I'm sure part of the lawsuit will require proof that they have it installed on more than one, but think about all the commercials and collateral they produce. No way they could have cranked all that out on one computer, even if it were being used 24/7...but that's just my opinion.

And you thought font fights didn't get dirty! 

 

 

IKEA is known as a leader in design. So what made them decide to switch to a standard, boring typeface for all their print materials?

The Swedish brand's 2010 product catalogue ditches their signature IKEA Sans, a version of Futura created specifically for them, and replaces it with Verdana. You know, the font that automatically appears when you're typing blog entries or Twitter posts?

  

 

Verdana is praised by web designers for its legibility in a pixel-based format, but it's rarely held as an example of an attractive typeface. Designers and IKEA-lovers everywhere are in a veritable rage over IKEA's big switch, which the company cites as being more "efficient and cost-effective."

Read the article from TIME online here. There's even a link to sign a petition that chastises IKEA for its poor taste and begs the company to bring back IKEA Sans.

This "font war" is making big headlines--which explains why I got the link from my stepdad, of all people (who'd probably never even heard of Verdana!).  All the backlash from fans and consumers of IKEA is just another reminder of the emotions people invest in their fonts, and how important it is for a company to make conscientious type choices.

 

I think Papyrus is headed the way of Comic Sans. They're both overused, standard-issue PC fonts, the ubiquity of which borders on tacky. It's just a matter of time before the Pap becomes another design in-joke...