FAQ

Likes are an easy way to keep track of the Uses you appreciate. Think of them as your personal favorites, or bookmarks. Just click the Like button at the top of any Use page. Then see all your Likes via the “My Likes” link in the account menu at the top of the site. You can choose in your settings whether to make your Likes page public or be notified when you get a Like.

Images may be added to the site using Flickr’s machine tags. The Flickr user’s name and source page are always included. We also try to link the Flickr user’s name to their Fonts In Use account when possible.

First, log in or create an account. Then there are three ways to add a Use:

• Click “Add a Use” from the account menu in the top right corner of the site. A form lets you upload images from your computer and add typeface, category, description, source, and other info. Once you click “Submit for approval” the Use will go into our staff’s moderation queue and (usually) published within the next 14 days. You can always edit your Use at any time — even after you submit it.

• Use the bookmarklet to quickly and easily add Uses directly from nearly any website. Just drag the bookmarklet (found on the Welcome page) to your bookmarks toolbar and click on it whenever you see an image (or images) you want to contribute. The image(s) will be sent to the "Add a Use" form where you can add more detail.

• Send images via Flickr. Simply add a “type:face=” machine tag to any image that has a Creative Commons license. Every few hours Fonts In Use will import all the new images with this tag and add them to our moderation queue for approval. This method works best if the Use can be represented with just one image.

Our guideline is in our name: fonts in use. Any representation of design is welcome in the Collection, as long as type is clearly visible. Work that is primarily lettering (custom letters drawn or made specifically for a single use) is generally not accepted.

We generally don’t accept foundry-produced material like typeface specimens or other font promotion. We occasionally make exceptions for historical examples, especially such that show examples of the type “in use”.

Our focus is on real-world uses. Fictional, personal, or unpublished design may be accepted in exceptional cases only, and only as long as it is clearly described as such. If you want to play it safe, focus on realized/published work.

Keep in mind, though, that all Uses are subject to our editorial staff’s review. Submissions that are considered spam, duplicates, pornographic, incomplete, or otherwise inappropriate will not make it through the moderation process.

All you need to submit a Use is an image and a title. Please include a short description text (What is this about?). Some commentary is also welcome (What is interesting or noteworthy about the typography? What do you like about it?), but not required. If this is your own work, please share some of the considerations that went into the typographic design and the font selection. You can also add categories, tags, and other meta data, but that’s optional. Even if you don’t know the typeface you can leave that field blank and our experts (nerds) will identify the type for you.

Images should ideally be 1,400–2,000px wide, but not heavier than 3 MB per file. 700px is the absolute minimum width. Don’t worry about resizing – images are automatically scaled to fit the site. There are no rules regarding portrait, landscape, square format – whatever works best for showing the typography. Avoid excessive surrounding (white)space, as this will make the actual design appear smaller in the layout, and make it difficult to view the type. Focus on images that show the fonts in use. We recommend to include up to six images. If you think you need more images to adequately show the project’s scope, you can upload more.

Yes! Just give credit wherever possible. This includes the designer of the work, the photographer of the image, and the source (website/book/magazine) where you found the imagery. The submission form makes crediting easy, and the bookmarklet will automatically include the web source.