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Free (i.e. no charge) Frutiger font? Is it out there?

M

malch

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 20, 2008
466
9
Hi there,
I've been asked to do some titles in Frutiger font, which I don't have in my Fonts folder. I get lots of links when I google 'free fonts Mac', but none of them are actually free (I think the "free" must mean that I'm free to google the subject, and the sellers are free to try to fool me into buying from them).
If I have to pay, I will, and I'd rather be safe than sorry. So I'm wondering how best to go about this (have never before needed a font that didn't come with my Mac): do all 'non-standard' Mac fonts cost money? Are there good, legal sites where one can download a font like Frutiger? If I do have to pay for it, where's the best place to buy it from?
Thanks,
malch
 
You won't find a free legal copy of Frutiger. The typeface name is under copyright, and needs to be licenced to be sold legally.

Confusingly, Frutiger is sold in a variety of packages and from a handful of foundries, so you want to do some shopping around to find a version that has all the weights that you need. You will discover that the Linotype version of Frutiger is significantly more expensive than the Adobe release.

Fontshop and MyFonts are two online stores that will happily sell you Frutiger.
 
Alternatively, MS' Seqoe UI is very similar and if you have a Windows machine is part of the supplied fonts, IIRC. All you need to do is copy it from Windows to your Font folder on the Mac. I have no idea what licensing limitations MS has on its fonts, so you may want to look into that before you use them commercially.

Open Sans is a pretty close free TT font.

Just some options besides buying them.
 
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malch said:
... I get lots of links when I google 'free fonts Mac', but none of them are actually free (I think the "free" must mean that I'm free to google the subject, and the sellers are free to try to fool me into buying from them)...
Click to expand...
You get pages that have the word "Mac" somewhere on them, the word "fonts" somewhere on them, and the word "free" somewhere on them. There is no guarantee that they'll be lined up in the order you want. Creating good search strings is an art that takes both study and practice.

That said, CartoGothic Std font is very close to Frutiger and is free. You can download it from this page. Also, this page seems to allow you to download one version of real Frutiger free. You have to register. I haven't tried to.
 
jlc1978 said:
It really depends on the nature and size of the project. It could very well be significant for a small project. At any rate, reducing costs in any project is a good thing.
Click to expand...

But if you want it to look professional, you should buy the real font. If you are charging, be professional. Free fonts often have crap kerning and tracking so it's worth spending $29 for the real thing.
 
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jlc1978 said:
It really depends on the nature and size of the project. It could very well be significant for a small project. At any rate, reducing costs in any project is a good thing.
Click to expand...

If $29 dollars makes or breaks a design budget, then tell your father-in-law to find somebody else to desktop publish his lawn service brochure.

:rolleyes:
 
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laurim said:
But if you want it to look professional, you should buy the real font. If you are charging, be professional. Free fonts often have crap kerning and tracking so it's worth spending $29 for the real thing.
Click to expand...

While many free fonts are crap; not all are - you need to look and see if they will work for what you want to do. At any rate, the OP asked for alternatives and they are out there.

As for being professional, part of that is treating your client's money like your own. My clients appreciate it when I offer lower cost alternatives that meet their needs; and sometimes we need to pay for something when free options don't meet their needs. A good professional knows when to, and when not to, cut costs to deliver a quality outcome at a reasonable price.

citizenzen said:
If $29 dollars makes or breaks a design budget, then tell your father-in-law to find somebody else to desktop publish his lawn service brochure.

:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

You really sound like you've never managed a project to a budget. Sure, it's easy to say it's only $29 - but $30 here and $30 there and pretty soon you've blown a budget.

If you can't find a free or less costly alternative, then you decide whether to buy it or go with a different font. To simply dismiss alternatives due to some misbegotten notion that it's only a few dollars is not a good project management approach.
 
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jlc1978 said:
You really sound like you've never managed a project to a budget. Sure, it's easy to say it's only $29 - but $30 here and $30 there and pretty soon you've blown a budget.
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It's not $30 "here and there".

It's $30 for a font the client says he absolutely wants to use.

You'll waste more money searching for a free substitute than you would just buying the font.

Time is money.

The time wasted finding a free alternative and convincing your client that it's an acceptable alternative is not a good management approach.
 
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citizenzen said:
It's not $30 "here and there".

It's $30 for a font the client says he absolutely wants to use.
Click to expand...

Possibly, but if that were the case I assume the OP simply would have bought the font.

You'll waste more money searching for a free substitute than you would just buying the font.

Time is money.
Click to expand...

Huh? It took me 5 minutes to find 2 alternatives - one in Windows and one free one.

The time wasted finding a free alternative and convincing your client that it's an acceptable alternative is not a good management approach.
Click to expand...

We'll just have to agree to disagree here. I believe it is, based on my experience. YMMV. HAND.
 
The OP said the client specifically asked for Frutiger. That means you buy Frutiger. Case closed. Maybe you don't notice subtle differences between fonts that look similar but many other people do notice. How many typical clients know the actual name of the font they want? That tells me they'll be able to tell you cheated. What if the company asks for your files and they find out you've used another font? PLUS- while Cartogothic looks very close and you could probably get away with it, it only has standard and bold and italics of those.

Funny enough, I just bought four weights of Frutiger because that's my client's corporate standard font. I wouldn't think of trying to fake them out. And I'm not charging them for it so it's not impacting their project price whatsoever. If I couldn't use Frutiger for anybody else because it's so unique to them, maybe I would charge them but I can use the font all I want for other things. It's the cost of doing business, just like all the other assets I buy in anticipation of using on future projects.
 
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jlc1978 said:
Huh? It took me 5 minutes to find 2 alternatives - one in Windows and one free one.
Click to expand...

Did you test it out to see if it actually is the same? Is the free Fruitiger kerned correctly so you won't spend extra time fixing it? Did you show a sample to your client to make sure it's satisfactory to them?

All that adds time to your 5 minute Google search.

laurim said:
The OP said the client specifically asked for Frutiger. That means you buy Frutiger. Case closed.
Click to expand...

Agreed. Case closed.

For those who think the $29 is important, then charge the client, just as you would charge them for any material needed to get the job done.

If it's not a make or break expense, then as you say, just pay for it yourself. You know you'll have plenty of opportunity to use it in the future.
 
Thanks, everyone, for weighing in on this... an interesting discussion.
I ended up purchasing the Frutiger font my client suggested; no problem with that, but if my client changes her mind and wants the 'less-bold' version (or whatever) I'll make her pay for the next version.
Regards,
malch
 
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