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Font Smuggler – Copy hidden brand fonts into Google Docs

brianmoore.com

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Re: Font Smuggler – Copy hidden brand fonts into Google Docs

#21

Post by wongarsu »

vrganj wrote: post #9
dijit wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh thanks! I looked but I missed that. So, I need to be super rich? Thats sad.

Why did we go from owning the software we run and being able to just modify things as we see fit to "You have to give Google a lot of money so you can have your own font in your own presentation"? Where did things go this wrong?

You can still pay Microsoft money to get a desktop copy of Powerpoint, which will use your system fonts. Using google docs is entirely self-inflicted

Granted, you now need to pay Microsoft a monthly fee for Powerpoint instead of a one-time-fee. But that is in large part because too many people preferred Google Docs, so Microsoft tried to become more like them

Re: Font Smuggler – Copy hidden brand fonts into Google Docs

#22

Post by detritus »

jmathai wrote: post #18

Received DMCA takedown notices for a paid font I used for my wife’s interior design website that she liked but we didn’t pay for because…I’m lazy. I was surprised to receive the DMCA (it is hosted on GitHub Pages). I ignored the emails because…I’m lazy. They (GitHub) eventually took down the repository (and site). So I swapped to another font and I don’t think my wife noticed. I think all of this was still easier tha…

Out of interest, did you rename the font prior to use? I'm curious how they found it.

You can also just stick them in a font-editor and re-export "as your own font" with some minor tweaks. Not that you should, of course.

Re: Font Smuggler – Copy hidden brand fonts into Google Docs

#23

Post by crazygringo »

dijit wrote: post #5
mhitza wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From the small info icon that opens up a section. > Google Workspace lets brands who pay enough embed custom corporate fonts into their docs and slides. Normally, these are locked to just those brands shelling out for custom typefaces, but there's one loophole: the ol' copy/paste. Below are a selection of brand fonts with which you can do exactly that. Enjoy.

Oh thanks! I looked but I missed that. So, I need to be super rich? Thats sad.

No, you need to be at least a medium-sized corporation basically.

Then because your contract with Google is large enough to matter, they'll add your custom corporate branded fonts to your font dropdowns.

Re: Font Smuggler – Copy hidden brand fonts into Google Docs

#24

Post by gschizas »

wongarsu wrote: post #21
vrganj wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why did we go from owning the software we run and being able to just modify things as we see fit to "You have to give Google a lot of money so you can have your own font in your own presentation"? Where did things go this wrong?

You can still pay Microsoft money to get a desktop copy of Powerpoint, which will use your system fonts. Using google docs is entirely self-inflicted Granted, you now need to pay Microsoft a monthly fee for Powerpoint instead of a one-time-fee. But that is in large part because too many people preferred Google Docs, so Microsoft tried to become more like them

You can still pay Microsoft a one-time-fee instead of a yearly one. You can even go to a physical store and get a physical box with Office (granted, it doesn't contain anything inside it anymore )

Re: Font Smuggler – Copy hidden brand fonts into Google Docs

#25

Post by virtualritz »

I love how all these 'brand' fonts look indistinguishable to an untrained eye and still brain-frying-bordedom-inducingly close to each other to someone like me who actually studied & worked in typography.

Related: https://eidosdesign.substack.com/p/why-every-brand-looks-the...

Re: Font Smuggler – Copy hidden brand fonts into Google Docs

#26

Post by Freak_NL »

crazygringo wrote: post #23
dijit wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh thanks! I looked but I missed that. So, I need to be super rich? Thats sad.

No, you need to be at least a medium-sized corporation basically. Then because your contract with Google is large enough to matter, they'll add your custom corporate branded fonts to your font dropdowns.

Basically the level where you've progressed from user to customer.

Re: Font Smuggler – Copy hidden brand fonts into Google Docs

#27

Post by selectodude »

brk wrote: post #20
vrganj wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Depends on what you do. Are you building a slide deck on your systems architecture? Probably doesn't matter. Are you building a marketing deck on your new corporate identity? Probably matters a lot. Either way, the tool I'm using shouldn't be the one deciding what matters and what doesn't. Just let me use my font as I please!

It doesn't matter on the corporate identity either.

It may not matter to you, but in this circumstance, your opinion doesn’t matter.

Re: Font Smuggler – Copy hidden brand fonts into Google Docs

#28

Post by bensyverson »

virtualritz wrote: post #25

I love how all these 'brand' fonts look indistinguishable to an untrained eye and still brain-frying-bordedom-inducingly close to each other to someone like me who actually studied & worked in typography. Related: https://eidosdesign.substack.com/p/why-every-brand-looks-the...

It's just the design team running in place. And at a certain scale, it's cheaper to pay a type foundry $100k once, rather than paying Monotype continuous fees for a legacy family.

But as someone who has made multiple neutral sans families, I agree. The launch rhetoric about creating a differentiated visual identity is comical when you look at all the interchangeable corporate sans together.

Re: Font Smuggler – Copy hidden brand fonts into Google Docs

#29

Post by WillAdams »

jonpalmisc wrote: post #16
WillAdams wrote: post #13

Surprised that such font access isn't gated by IP address --- usually font licenses are quite restrictive and have such requirements for usage.

The licenses (from major foundries/vendors) are indeed usually quite restrictive; however, the hard part has always been enforcing them. It's not surprising to me that Google hasn't built any guardrails around this. After all, gating by IP address? What happens if someone from the marketing team logs on from an airport? All of the slides revert to Arial?

The access would presumably need to be done through a VPN to have the fonts.
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