Meet fonts.xyz, the type marketplace that really is built for everyone

The Brand Identity: When Luke Prowse founded NaN, he left a stable job, spent most of his savings and bet on a then-new dream: earning a living from his own type. It was complex, costly and slow. fonts.xyz, built by NaN, is his attempt to spare other designers that same uphill climb. The platform lets independent foundries and type designers set up shop, upload their fonts, generate type samples and start selling in three minutes, keeping 80% of every sale. There’s a drag-and-drop page builder, a single all-inclusive licence priced only on a buyer’s headcount, and a platform-wide 80% student discount.

To mark the launch, NaN has also released six new type families at nan.fonts.xyz. In our conversation, Prowse discusses the risk that started it all, why a 1% solidarity tax matters and why he thinks most platforms fail to respect type. TBI Hey Luke, how are you doing? LP Great, thank you! We’re just happy that version zero-zero-one of fonts.xyz is out. I think the whole team is relieved.

But we’re still developing and pushing features forward. TBI How would you describe what fonts.xyz is? LP We’re a font marketplace where people (users) can license fonts fairly, and, indie type designers (creators) can build their own foundry – quickly, easily, for free – keeping the lion’s share of sales. We’ve built foundry tools that have either never existed before or require dollars, developers and designers to make happen. We’re a team that loves type from all angles; using it, making it, selling it. fonts.xyz wraps all that experience up in one spot and invites others to join. TBI Why was there a need for a platform like this?

And why were you the team to make it happen? LP This is the only place you can build your own foundry (in under three minutes, we timed it) for free, with built-in font product management and a drag-n-drop page builder. Something like this simply never existed before. There are a bunch of other solutions that are more convoluted or costly, and our aim was to make something equitable, free from the monopolies you know and loathe. When I founded NaN, I left a stable job and income, had a newborn baby and spent most of my savings setting up a site where I could make a dream happen – earn a living making my own type. It was a big risk.

It was complex, time-consuming, expensive. So on the creator side specifically, we built something where you could literally upload fonts, generate some automatic type samples (customise if you want) and get selling in the time it takes to boil a kettle. It’s pretty radical. The other side of it is getting foundries in front of an audience that licenses and uses type, and making that pain-free from a licensing perspective. TBI The 80% royalty split sits well above the industry norm. How did you arrive at that figure? LP We want-want-want creators to get AS MUCH as possible.

Some of the industry standards of other platforms are shocking for what is basically middle-manning sales. I don’t think it’s wild to say that all creators, not just of fonts, ethically deserve as high a cut as possible. I’m not going to say the maths is easy from our side of the fence. It’s something of a hail-mary and we’re going to do our best to make it work. Sharing is sometimes caring. Sharing is sometimes caring. TBI What was the thinking behind the 1% solidarity tax? LP The Pareto Principle states 80% of results come from 20% of inputs.

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The launch of fonts.xyz has the potential to significantly change the type marketplace dynamics, making it highly impactful and relevant for brand strategy professionals, while also introducing a novel approach to type licensing and revenue sharing.