March 09, 2005
Why everyone should buy fonts created by Ricardo Santos
As you well know, I am especially quick to complain or find fault. I would like it to be noted, however, that when I am duly impressed, I am equally quick at lauding those who deserve it.Ricardo Santos deserves that sort of praise.
Last night, I was working on a little project for a friend. You know the type. "You work in marketing, don't you?" the friend says. "Do you think you could help me with this?" So, I was working on the project. And this portion of the project involved selecting fonts. Now, I don't know about you, but I'm crazy about MyFonts. If you haven't been there, you should go. Right now. Quit reading and go. Click here.
And why am I such a rabid fan, you might ask? Because it is one of the few fonts sites that has both a wide selection and incredible usability. I can find practically anything I want there and I can view the fonts using the words I want to use. This is especially helpful when you're trying to divine the appropriate font to serve as the foundation of a logotype. Really, really helpful.
So, anyway, I'm out at MyFonts, whittling down my selections. And I finally settle on three faces that I must have. So, I make my purchase. Fine. End of story? Not quite.
The next day, less than 24-hours after I've purchased my font, I receive a nice, brief note from Ricardo, the designer of one of the fonts I purchased. Ricardo has taken the time to drop me a note, thanking me for the purchase. It's not enough the guy designs a beautiful font, but he takes the time to correspond with his customers? What's more, he's offered to send me a sample of one of his pieces using the font. Are you kidding me? This is amazing!
Ricardo Santos has hooked me. Beautiful font. Beautiful customer service. Beautiful design. What's not to like? I mean, seriously.
So I fire Ricardo back a note, thanking him for his response and his font, and accepting his offer for a sample. He writes back immediately. And he lets me know that he would love to have any samples of things I might produce with his font.
I love this. I really can't even put it into words, but I'm emotionally touched by this sort of service. In a day and age of rude rude rude, and "Buy it! Now, go away!" this guy has taken the time to correspond with me (dialogue!) and actually establish a relationship. Brilliant. Flat out brilliant. I can't praise it enough.
And that's why I'm writing this testimonial. Because Ricardo Santos deserves praise for doing it the right way. Will I use his font for the logotype? I might. That depends on the market. But you can be sure that the next time I need a font, I'm going to be entering Ricardo Santos' name into the search box. Because if he's got something close, I'm going to buy it. (The font I purchased, this time, was the Van Condensed family. It's available at MyFonts.)
Sometimes, it's the small things, the extra efforts, that really make the difference. And this certainly made the difference for me. Thank you, Ricardo. You made my day. And taught me a valuable lesson. Thank you.
And thank you for stopping by to read this little ditty. Drop a comment and I'll respond. Or just read, think, and return.
Why everyone should buy fonts created by Ricardo Santos
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