If you’ve ever worked on an application based on a design from a creative team, there’s a good chance that you’ve found a request to use fonts that aren’t system fonts. And if the application was designed to run on multiple platforms but the client wanted a consistent look, then you’ve almost certainly had to use something other than system fonts. In my experience, even when explicitly told to only use system fonts, the creative teams I work with manage to sneak in extra fonts without saying anything. Normally it’s because they’re used to designing for the web, not because they’re just trying to be contrary.
Now, technically it isn’t hard to use these fonts. Yes, you have to embed them in the application which increases the size of the executable and slows down load time. If it’s just a few fonts, that’s usually not a big deal.* Except that there are other possible consequences to be taken into consideration.
Do you have licensing for these fonts? And no, downloading them off them web from a free fonts website isn’t sufficient. And no, having a license to use the fonts on a web site doesn’t automatically allow you to use them in a mobile application. And based on a recent experience (although not with a project I worked on personally)**, I can no longer accept a font from a creative team based on their assertion that it has been properly licensed. Instead, I will need to get documentation of the licensing that can be checked in with the source code. Ideally, it would also be included in the application, but I’ll settle for having it with the source code.
Fonts can be an integral part of an interface design, but don’t cheap out. Spend the money and get licensed fonts. Think of it as an investment in getting great new fonts and having fewer possible legal questions in the future.
*My rule of thumb is that if they were told to only use system fonts and I find something else in the design, I bring it up explicitly in the review to push back. If the design has more than four fonts that need to be embedded, I get a little less polite. Also, don’t forget that every font variant (bold, italic, condensed, etc.) is a separate font.
**When you create applications on a work-for-hire basis, the client owns the code, and when the project ends, for whatever reason, the client can request a copy of the source code. Once the source code leaves your control, it can get used in ways you never expected.
Sam Herdman 