I have never tried to convince someone that they need a new font. at typotheque we design fonts for retail, and general use. occasionally we are asked to make a custom typeface for a client, and in those situations I actually try to make client look for a suitable existing typeface. only when we consider all options, and find that none are fitting, we decide to design a new one.

type design is very time consuming, which makes the process costly. yet, there are situations, where even though there are hundreds or thousands of fonts available, none of them are the right fit. imagine you are developing an identity for a TV station in the middle east. firstly, you need to find a typeface that supports both latin and arabic. there are a few dozen already out there. then you narrow it down to those that work on the low resolution screens and you find that there are only one or two – and if your competitor is already using those, or they don’t have suitable characteristics, there is nothing left to do but design one from scratch, specifically for the purpose.

Peter Bilak.