A complete guide to font licensing for designers

A colourful collage of random letters in different fonts
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Navigating the world of font licensing can be a tricky and unglamorous task, but it's important to understand how it works to avoid any complications down the line. Different fonts have varying licensing agreements, making it easy for you (or your clients) to fall into legal trouble if your chosen style isn't fully licensed for your intended use.

There are plenty of things to consider when working out how to license a font (including deciding if it's font vs typeface you're after) and while making use of free fonts might seem like an easy way to get around font licensing for designers, it's not the sly cheat code it might seem to be. In this guide, we'll take you through the basics of font licensing, the common types you'll come across and what to look out for to avoid complications.

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Garrick Webster

Garrick Webster is a freelance copywriter and branding specialist. He’s worked with major renewable energy companies such as Ecotricity and the Green Britain Group, and has helped develop award-winning branding and packaging for several distilleries in the UK, the US and Australia. He’s a former editor of Computer Arts magazine and has been writing about design, creativity and technology since 1995.