Welcome to the Commercial Type Vault, a repository for 17 years of unreleased typefaces. Here you’ll find works in progress, old custom projects, finished families that still need specimens and marketing materials, and some barely usable sketches. After years of giving access to much of this work to our friends and acquaintances, we’ve decided to throw the doors open and make these typefaces available to anyone who is interested. Everything in the Vault can be licensed for immediate use, but some families are more usable than others. We have done our best to communicate how complete each typeface is, including a tester and snapshot showings of all character sets, so you can make sure your needs are covered before you commit. Since many of the typefaces here are still in progress, you’ll need to register for an account, in case we need to notify you of updates for typefaces you have licensed.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

How often will these fonts be updated?

It depends on the family. Some will be updated, others have come along as far as we plan to bring them. If you find a typeface here that you'd like to use but is missing something important like accents or punctuation specific to another language, please get in touch at info[at]commercialtype.com.

For a family that appears to be finished, with complete character sets, what will change when the fonts are moved over to the Commercial Type or Commercial Classics site?

Most of the work that remains to be done relates to marketing: PDF specimens, sample images, and explanatory texts are still in the works. For desktop fonts, the changes will be very minor in most cases - maybe slight refinements to a handful of kerning pairs, for example. Changes to webfonts may be more significant: all fonts in the Vault are unhinted, except where noted.

I want to use one of the fonts with a limited character set for a project, but it's missing characters I need for my language. What can I do?

Please get in touch at info[at]commercialtype.com and let us know what you need. If we don't have an update in the works already, chances are we can add the characters you need without much trouble.

Can I submit a typeface for release through the Commercial Type Vault?

We are not currently accepting submissions from outside designers specifically for release here, but we are open to outside submissions for release in our main library, and if we commit to publishing your typeface it is likely that it will first appear here.

I licensed a few styles of a family that used to be in the Vault but is now in the main Commercial Type library. Can I upgrade to the complete family without paying for these styles twice?

If you have one or more licenses for individual styles in a family, the price of this license or licenses will be subtracted if you upgrade to a license for the complete family at a later date, even if the fonts you licensed have moved to the Commercial Type or Commercial Classics library. You can upgrade by adding the complete family or collection to your cart and entering the license number from your previous order in the first step of the checkout process. Order numbers from the Vault are valid on our other sites.

What is your refund and exchange policy?

All sales are final, and no refunds will be given in cases other than insurmountable technical difficulties. Please check your cart carefully, as we are not responsible for a customer licensing the wrong font. Exchanges cannot be given. If you have technical problems with the fonts that render them unusable, we will do everything within our power to rectify the situation and provide you with a usable copy. If after 5 business days the issue is still unresolved, we give the option of a full refund. In order to receive this refund, you must destroy all copies of the font or fonts from your order in your possession, including backups.

Spread from The Atlantic, creative director Darhil Crooks, May 2016