Comparing Font Applications: Typing In Web 2.0 With MyFonts, Fontstruct, and DaFont

The following is Listio’s comparison of three web 2.0 applications for finding and previewing font and typeface. To see an introduction to the subject, please see our post, Web 2.0 Typography: Font Applications.

As we covered font applications we kept in mind how fluid the world of fonts is; new fonts are created everyday, and keeping track of new fonts, as well as finding the fonts you want requires more than a search feature. The applications in this series, FontStruct, MyFonts, and dafont, each provided tools, and as we’ll see in the chart and wrapup below, each is a strong resource for finding fonts.

Each of the applications was simple to navigate, though extra points should go to MyFonts, which not only had categories and tags, but had running lists of the latest fonts (with an RSS), bestsellers, and the ability to put your favorites into albums. All of the applications gave samples of the fonts along with ratings.

Feature-wise, MyFonts gets an ‘A’. On top of the tagging, categories, and search functions that the others have they add in a chance to see your text in that font. If you don’t have you text you’d like to use, MyFonts can randomly generate text from news feeds. That in mind, Fontstruct has a feature the others do not, which is the ability to create your own font inside the application.

There are few downsides to report with these applications, which provide a service unique to the web. As typographers will attest, the old method of finding fonts involved volumes of type books, with each font taking a page. Here again MyFonts pulls ahead with their ‘What the Font’ feature which allows users to upload an image of a font for matching.

Reviewing these applications, there was little question that each of them had a use, and that each of them could help graphic designers, typographers, or users that want to enhance their text. To find other applications like this one, there is the Listio search: find+fonts.

Previously in this series: MyFonts: Finding and Matching Fonts

Application: MyFonts
Listio Profile: http://www.listio.com/web20/app/MyFonts/
Website: http://new.myfonts.com

Font application for typographers, designers, and users that want new fonts. Search, find, and even match the font you want!... Learn more

Application: FontStruct
Listio Profile: http://www.listio.com/web20/app/FontStruct/
Website: http://fontstruct.fontshop.com

FontStruct is a free font-building tool brought to you by the world’s leading retailer of digital type, FontShop. FontStruct lets you quickly and easily create fonts constructed out of geometrical shapes, which are arranged in a grid pattern, like tiles or bricks. You create ‘FontStructions’ ... Learn more

Application: dafont
Listio Profile: http://www.listio.com/web20/app/dafont/
Website: http://www.dafont.com

DaFont is an archive of freely downloadable fonts. Fonts are categorized by theme, and can also be sorted by name, date, and popularity. The site also allows users to enter custom text when previewing fonts.... Learn more

New to Listio? Our tag cloud search offers an easy way to narrow your hunt for the perfect web application or service. No more second guessing of search terms. Just click on one tag, then as many more as you'd like to narrow your search results. It's easy and ensures you get to the listing you want. Finding web 2.0 was never so easy.

Tags: create, find, Fonts, search, type
Posted in: Fonts, Product Comparisons | Respond
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