Meet fonts.xyz, the type marketplace that really is built for everyone

When Luke Prowse founded NaN, he left a stable job, spent most of his savings and bet on a then-new dream: earning a living from his own type. It was complex, costly and slow. fonts.xyz, built by NaN, is his attempt to spare other designers that same uphill climb. The platform lets independent foundries and type designers set up shop, upload their fonts, generate type samples and start selling in three minutes, keeping 80% of every sale. There’s a drag-and-drop page builder, a single all-inclusive licence priced only on a buyer’s headcount, and a platform-wide 80% student discount. To mark the launch, NaN has also released six new type families at nan.fonts.xyz. In our conversation, Prowse discusses the risk that started it all, why a 1% solidarity tax matters and why he thinks most platforms fail to respect type. TBI: Hey Luke, how are you doing? LP: Great, thank you! We’re just happy that version zero-zero-one of fonts.xyz is out. I think the whole team is relieved. But we’re still developing and pushing features forward.