2017 Font Purchasing Habits Survey Results (worth the read!)

AbrahamLee

Since many (most?) of the users here create and sell fonts of their own, I thought everyone would be interested in the results of a recent survey. There's a LOT to go through, but well worth glancing through to see what people look for and want when going through the process of finding and purchasing fonts. I found a few things that I can to do better.

Here's the link: https://medium.com/@mcpflugie/the-2017-font-purchasing-habits-results-3fc588283b33

Hrant Հրանդ Փափազեան Papazian

Pure gold.

Austin Stahl

Follow the link at the end to take the Type Designer Survey, too!

Johannes Neumeier

49% of people say they have read an entire EULA before

Scott-Martin Kosofsky

. . . and 73% of them are lying.

John Hudson

I believe it if they're talking about the DJR or Butterick licenses: short, clear, refreshingly absent in legalese.

Hrant Հրանդ Փափազեան Papazian

John Hudson said:

I believe it if they're talking about the DJR or Butterick licenses: short, clear, refreshingly absent in legalese.

Still lying.

Max Phillips

49% of people say they have read an entire EULA before

Hell, I haven't even read mine.

Jasper de Waard

Johannes Neumeier said:

49% of people say they have read an entire EULA before

Some of them may be lying, but I think this reveals a bigger issue about this survey: it's results are not representative for the total group of font-buyers. Respondents were often friends of typedesigners, I believe.

André G. Isaak

On the topic of EULAs, I'd actually be interested in knowing which specific clauses in a EULA might influence people's decision to buy a typeface rather than simply whether people have actually read one (it's been awhile since I took this survey, but my failing memory doesn't recall any questions on this topic).

Simon Cozens

The DJR license is still 1500 words.

People do read EULAs - it's just that what they read is "Press the button marked 'I agree' to get on with your day."

Hrant Հրանդ Փափազեան Papazian

Jasper de Waard said:
it's results are not representative for the total group of font-buyers. Respondents were often friends of typedesigners, I believe.

This is a significant issue, but thankfully Mary Catherine asked certain questions that allow for an approximate subtraction of that crowd. Specifically:

• 43% of people say they personally know a type designer.
• 13% of the survey respondents say they have created and sold a typeface at some point in their life.

Thomas Phinney

So half have read a font EULA at least once, at some time, ever. That doesn’t mean they do it routinely or even semi-regularly.

I think another useful question would be, "what proportion of the time are you familiar with the EULA (either you read it, or you have read it before) before you license/buy a font?"