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When you run a design studio, thinking about the value of your work is as important as producing the work itself. In our case that means: Not only do we want to design fonts but also the way they get out into the world.

In 2020 we were the first type foundry to shift away from use-based pricing (the industry standard) and instead introduce a value-based model, with the hopes of benefiting our clients, their clients, and our flooded inboxes. Since then, many of our colleagues have adopted the Dinamo model and we’ve had fruitful conversations with lots of you (even the haters).

We’ve tried to be transparent about how our new licensing model has affected things like sales and we are relieved that, how do I say this… our accountants are pretty happy with how things are going. But we’ve also noticed that there’s one segment of our clientele that hasn’t been as positively impacted as we hoped: Some cultural initiatives fall through the licensing cracks.

With that in mind, we’re excited to introduce our new 25% off to support independent culture work and non-profits.

Backstory

LET’S RECAP. In 2020, Dinamo introduced a new pricing model that works differently from most publishers. With most of our (esteemed) colleagues, you need to deliver a bucket load of information about mysterious stuff like web traffic and app downloads before purchasing a font — information that can be tricky to locate, access, or even gather. Buying a typeface should feel exciting and with use-based pricing, it really isn’t.

Plus there’s something else: Bigger companies extract more value from a typeface than smaller businesses because of their marketing power and reach. With use-based pricing, these companies often end up paying the same price as much smaller businesses.

Dinamo’s Licensing Model

We implemented a different way to sell fonts that’s easier to understand and fairer to everyone. Also, we made the purchasing steps simple af. To buy one of our fonts, you only need to know one number, the company size of your client, and after you’ve selected that you tick how the fonts will be used (print, digital, app, social, logo, or video). Then, you send your shopping cart to your client, or you can purchase it on their behalf. Done.

Using company size as the only metric makes the conversation between foundry, agency/designer, and client incredibly easy. Also, it clarifies who is picking up the tab for the licenses: the client (and not the designer).

If you’d ask me to poetry-slam our relationship triangle down for you, it would be:

Designers choose the fonts.
Dinamo provides the fonts.
Client pays for the fonts.
Designers receive flowers from Dinamo.

Big places with small budgets

If we’re honest, our new licensing model does well for most (even “big companies” seem ok with paying a bit more), but it doesn’t work as well for projects or institutions that are larger in number but don’t have a lot of budget, like some cultural institutions or non-profit organizations.

Given that Dinamo is rooted in cultural graphic design and many of our peers work in that space, it feels important to make sure our fonts remain accessible to smaller, personal contexts and passion projects that aren’t scalable products or have huge commercial forces behind them. More magazines and odd-format catalogs, less vitamin supplement subscriptions.

Solution: 25% Off

Up to today, we made things work by granting individual price adjustments on a case-by-case basis (shout out to everybody who messaged us asking for one), but not everybody feels comfortable enough or has the time to reach out!

Now, with our licensing model turning three years old, we’re looking to engrain our support of cultural institutions more visibly into the structural core of Dinamo. Moving forward, it’ll work like this: If you work in the cultural field or are part of a registered charity or non-profit organization, you can simply tick the checkbox during the font buying process. You’ll get a 25% reduction right away.

That’s it! Time for my supplements.

— JB