With the commissioning of a font, we will firstly discuss the purpose, company or campaign strategy, and pin down the requirements, without any obligation. This is to help us clarify the possible cost.
	We quote on the job. Fifty per cent of the fee is required up front on custom font projects.
	We proceed on the design. Draft words ('Hamburgefonts') are produced first so you get a "feel" of the font. Depending on your requirements, we may draft several versions. This is often done by hand, and no letters are digitalized.
	Once the basic design is agreed, sample, incomplete fonts are sent to you for testing or Acrobat PDFs for you to check the design integrity in print.
	As more letters are completed, other samples are sent over. The design process can take anywhere up to six weeks; more for a complex font (e.g. a script).
	Once the font is complete, kerning pairs are inserted to make it appear harmonious in print.
	In addition, if your font is exclusively for screen display, we will hint it, i.e. make it appear right on-screen. Without hinting, fonts can look jagged or broken. Hinting is a complex process which can take weeks.
	Finally, the fonts are completed in the agreed formats. Single copies are delivered. Depending on the agreement, the fonts' ownership will either be transferred to you outright on payment or the fonts are licensed to you. There is a compromise solution where a typeface is licensed to a customer exclusively for a set period, after which we have the rights to market it to other customers.

It is hard to quote on any font, let alone a hypothetical one. Because fonts involve drawing prior to digitalizing, it is difficult to predict how much effort is involved. For a standard, single font, expect to pay upwards of US$2,500 (and figures of $4,000-$5,000 are commonplace) plus licensing (the licensing fee depends on the number of users in your organization and for large orders, the development cost is often subtracted from it). Families of four cost at least US$10,000 plus licensing. Complex TrueType hinting can double the prices.
   Time-wise, fonts can take a minimum of 14 days to develop. Generally, we prefer to estimate four to six weeks for a new family that has to be created from scratch. Where you already have an idea of what you would like, we take considerably less time.
   Easier tasks, e.g. incorporating a signature, can take a matter of minutes (based on ready artwork) to hours (scanning, tweaking paths) and are charged at by an hourly rate (US$80 minimum).