About TypeTofu
TypeTofu is an essential discovery tool for brand designers, graphic designers, type designers, other creative professionals and students to uncover global type foundries and their fonts.
TL;DR
Our Story
TypeTofu started as a passion project—to help us solve our own problem of finding the right foundries and their fonts with ease and speed—and we’re excited that there are more type enthusiasts and nerds like you, who are using this platform with us.
The Long-ish Tale, told as FAQs (so you don’t have to read both)
Yet another directory?
We wanted to create our version of what exploring typography could feel like: open, inviting, and empowering. We are not the first to recognise this. Websites like Typewolf, TypeAtlas, Fonts in Use, and many more have made important contributions in spotlighting type creators—but we saw an opportunity to go further.
Most of the existing directories we found had three recurring problems. Many had gone stale—no clear update timestamps, broken links, foundries that no longer existed. Most were heavily Latin-centric, missing incredible work in Indic, Arabic, Japanese, Chinese, and other non-Latin scripts. And nearly all had interfaces that made discovery harder than it needed to be: long static lists, no filtering, no search, outdated UIs.
TypeTofu is built to solve all three. It’s kept current with a public changelog. It actively includes foundries working in all scripts and languages—including free and open-source ones, and one-person operations. And it's designed as a modern, mobile-first product, not an afterthought.
What’s in the name?
The name “TypeTofu” is inspired by what was once a font’s most persistent visual placeholder on the web: the tofu box. When a font lacks support for a particular character or script, most “tofu”. This absence became the impetus for Noto Sans as well, Google’s expansive typeface project whose name stands for “No more tofu”. Its mission: to ensure that no language, symbol, or writing system would go unrepresented. With the advancement in technology and further discovery of global scripts it is rare that you now see the Tofu glyph on the web anymore. Hilariously, the Tofu glyph is what a UX designer understands as a 404 error on the web.
Quite similarly, TypeTofu reclaims the tofu box as a symbol—not of absence, but of discovery. We see it as a call to action: to build a platform where every type foundry, regardless of size, location, or fame, has an equal chance to be seen, appreciated, and discovered.
Who are we?
We’re a small group of designers, typographers, and digital archivists who built this outside of our day jobs, because we genuinely wanted it to exist. TypeTofu is independently built and made possible with the support of Cresko Smart Lab, an Innovation and Incubation Lab from India, who believed in the mission early and helped get it off the ground.
How is this free?
We don’t sell data. Period. TypeTofu is a passion project built by people with other jobs who wanted this to exist. Our full tech stack is publicly documented. If you'd rather not be tracked at all, declining cookies on arrival is enough—the entire platform stays accessible either way. Thanks to our friends at Cresko Smart Lab, TypeTofu is independently built and managed, and will always be available for free.
What about accuracy?
Every entry is manually reviewed. We don’t scrape—a real human cross-checks every data point before it goes live. We link directly to the source, whether that's a foundry’s own site or their reseller. You can see our full changelog on the platform, so you always know how current the information is.
And yes, most of the time we do let foundries know they’re listed. We’re happy to update or remove any information at their request—just reach out at info@typetofu.com.
What’s next?
TypeTofu started with foundries, but this is just the beginning. The bigger idea is a centralized archive for all things type—fonts, tools, histories, educational resources, awards, and more. We’re building toward a place where anyone curious about typography has somewhere to start. Join us as we figure it out.
We’re open to collaborations, interviews, foundry features, and typography zine swaps.
I don’t see a foundry I love. Can I submit?
Yes, please. Use the submission form on the site. We review everything, and if it fits, it goes in. We’re especially interested in foundries that tend to get overlooked—independent studios, non-Latin specialists, free and open-source shops. Those gaps matter to us.