What Is FontShop and What Happened to the FontFont Collection?

FontShop was the type foundry and retail brand founded by Erik Spiekermann, and the FontFont collection was the library of typefaces it created over roughly 25 years. The shop itself has since moved: the complete FontFont collection is now sold through MyFonts.com and, where applicable, through Monotype's subscription service, Monotype Fonts. So if you are looking for FF DIN, FF Meta, FF Mark, or any other FontFont, you no longer buy it on fontshop.com — you buy it on MyFonts or access it via Monotype Fonts.

What FontShop was

FontShop was a font retailer and foundry brand. Its identity rested on two things, as founder Erik Spiekermann put it: "Shop" is only the second syllable of FontShop, the first being "Font." The company's stated purpose was to be about fonts and font innovation — not just transactions.

That framing matters for understanding the brand's legacy. FontShop was both a place to buy type and a source of new type. The FontFont collection was the part it created itself.

What the FontFont collection is

FontFont is the typeface library FontShop developed and released over its 25-year history. It is the "font innovations" half of the brand's identity, and it includes widely used professional families such as:

• FF DIN — a geometric sans rooted in the German industrial standard lettering
• FF Meta — Spiekermann's own humanist sans, designed originally for the German Post Office
• FF Mark — a more recent geometric sans in the same tradition

These are licensed for desktop, web, and app use, which is why they appear across print, screen, and digital products rather than in one medium only.

Why the brand's philosophy still gets quoted

FontShop's own site keeps a line from Dutch type designer and teacher Gerrit Noordzij: "Only when you know where you come from you can say where you want to go." Spiekermann uses it to explain continuity — the shop has moved, but the subject stays the same. For anyone evaluating FontFont typefaces today, that is a useful way to read the library: it is a body of work with a traceable lineage, not a loose pile of unrelated fonts.

Where to get FontFont fonts now

The FontFont collection has a new home. According to FontShop's own notice, the complete collection is available for purchase at MyFonts.com and through Monotype Fonts, Monotype's subscription service, "where applicable."

Both routes are described as offering flexible licensing options and ways to use the fonts on websites, apps, digital ads, and more. Which one fits you depends on whether you want to own specific licenses or want subscription access across a larger library — the FontShop page itself does not state prices or plan details, so check each platform directly for current terms.

If you are an agency

FontShop's notice includes a separate path for agencies: email them to get access to a library of 150,000 fonts from over 1,000 foundries, with unlimited prototyping allowed on any font in that library. That is a different offer from buying individual FontFont families, and it is aimed at teams that need to test broadly before committing.

What fontshop.com is today

fontshop.com now functions mainly as a signpost rather than a storefront. It explains the move, points to MyFonts and Monotype Fonts for purchases, and directs customer-account questions to its help pages and FAQ. The site also notes it will post further updates.

Practical takeaway: if you land on fontshop.com expecting a cart, you will not find one. Go to MyFonts to buy FontFont typefaces, or to Monotype Fonts if subscription access suits your workflow better.