Thomas Phinney
The Font Detective
Identify backdated forged documents through fonts, such as Calibri & Aptos? Yes.
Your font & typography problems solved by a globally-known font expert.
Font ID & availability dating, point size analysis, intellectual property, licensing/business issues, & more.
Original typeface design, revivals and extensions.
Evidence and answers, promptly with clarity.
Recommended by Microsoft on the timeline and development of Calibri & Aptos. No other font question is too obscure.
Document Font ID & Dating
What font was used to typeset a document? Did this typeface exist as of the date specified? A document dated before its font was available can prove backdating—even when the only version of the document available is a photocopy or fax. Calibri and Aptos are the most common examples, but every font was invented at some point in time!
Font Point Size Verification
Many kinds of documents have a specific minimum point size to meet legal requirements. Does a given text meet the legal size requirement? Did you know that there is no single thing you can measure that is the same as the point size of a font, and different fonts have different physical sizes for the “same” numeric point size? Phinney can explain, get accurate measurements for you, and translate those measurements to actual point size.
FONT LICENSING & BUSINESS
Phinney has been on all sides of font licensing deals, and can advise licensors and foundries. Perhaps you are a lawyer whose client is has been contacted by a very large font foundry or distributor alleging unlicensed or underlicensed font usage? There are numerous potential complications, including the same fonts being available from multiple sources, different licensing terms, and more. Phinney can help you navigate these problems from the broad landscape to tactical options.
Other typography & font Questions
Phinney can answer almost any font or typography question. He has worked with literally every kind of typesetting, from carving letters in stone to designing digital fonts (including the ones used on this web site). He has operated every category of printing press and digital printer, and co-created one of the first web font services. He’s been a product manager at Adobe, and done font-related work for Microsoft, Monotype and Google. If he can’t answer your font question, he probably knows who can.