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Responses by Ivo Gabrowitsch, founder and managing director, Fontwerk.

Background: The main purpose of our website is to present our type foundry and, above all, our retail fonts. We wanted them to have the best possible stage so that designers, agencies and brand managers can get to know our typeface families and be typographically inspired to work on their projects.

Design core: At the heart of every font presentation is the TypeTester. Although our previous site had the TypeTester as well, it is now variable, more extensive and offers more design options. However, the best way to “experience” the fonts is to install them locally and test them in your own documents and projects. That’s why we have radically improved the trial fonts and made them even easier to access and separate from the purchasing process.

We’ve also refined the purchasing process. We were able to further simplify our license model, making it even fairer and improving the user experience.

Favorite details: One reason for the relaunch was our desire to create a sharper visual profile. What sounds simple is actually a challenge for any foundry website. Very often, foundries face a dilemma of how to maintain the difficult balancing act of creating breathing space and a place for the fonts while still having an original online presence. I think we have done a good job in this matter.

Our new blog section Text gives us more typographic options than the rest of the site, so that font stories, in-use and other articles can be read with more pleasure. This way, we can provide a greater depth and breadth to our content.

Challenges: When we looked at revamping and refreshing our website, we initially thought it would only take a couple of months. Originally, we only wanted to give the well-functioning website a refresh. However, one idea led to another, and we ended up working more than two years on the project. So, finishing it was the most challenging aspect.

Divergent paths: A project like this is hugely important for a brand and should therefore be prioritized internally with the appropriate time and manpower. We didn’t do this enough at the beginning and would therefore do it better next time.

Navigation structure: We divide the navigation into a primary and a secondary navigation. If you have little time, you can get in touch with the main site areas—the Fonts, the Services and the Blog—so only these are linked in the header. Everything else— the About, Designers, FAQ, Student Discounts and Free Trials pages—can be found in the menu and in the footer.

Special technical features: We remain convinced that most websites do not need functional or marketing cookies. Therefore, we continue to do without them and thus spare ourselves and our customers the annoying cookie consent dialog.

fontwerk.com

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