FontShop Launches FontShuffle App For iPhone/iPod Touch

Wouldn't it be great if a whole font catalogue would fit into your shirt pocket? If you could find a typeface without knowing its name, just by comparing its shapes? If it were possible to e-mail the marketing department your desired typeface for a client presentation while still at the airport?

A new application developed by FontShop AG — the German office of FontShop — and Metaquark for the iPhone and iPod Touch could be the answer. FontShuffle 1.0 was released yesterday, and offers a new way of finding and comparing typefaces, and of composing text samples. The software combines the knowledge of the analogue world with new advanced possibilities of the digital mobile world.

First determine to which classification your typeface belongs, then select the sub-category.

FontShuffle 1.0 is the world's fastest source of typographic inspiration. Hundreds of font families are sorted by visual similarity into a visual family tree. Without any previous knowledge about typography, and using only visual criteria, you can navigate directly to 6 font designs of similar style by tapping your iPhone twice. You can do this without knowing the name or style category of the desired font, but can learn these by playing around with the application.

If the six options suggested by FontShuffle are not to your liking, just shake the device and six new options appear. Shake again and the app links to the FontShop database, downloading more samples. Compose a custom sample to see the font in action.

Shake the results list to throw new alternatives into the mix. Use the default sample text to display your font, or test it dynamically using your own words. Turn the screen to have a look at the glyph chart.

The FontShuffle catalogue is constantly updated. To do this, FontShop selects the best fonts from its huge assortment, consisting of only original designs from the world's most respected type foundries.

Upcoming FontShuffle-Enhancements:

more shuffle-fontsscalable font sampleslinks to font information on www.fontshop.de further localization

FontShuffle 1.0 is free of charge and available in English and German language versions. It is compatible with iPhone and iPod Touch, and requires iPhone 2.0 Software-Update.