I've been working with a font family (that I love) for some time now, but it's limited to the traditional book typography variations: roman, SC, italic, bold (all with lining and old style figures). It would be immensely helpful if there were, say, a bold italic...and perhaps even a bold SC. It would probably also make the family more enticing to other designers, to be honest.* How realistic is it to approach the designer of the original directly and try to commission them to expand the family? Would current distributors of the family need to approve? I realize that it depends heavily on the specific designer's willingness, and how much one is willing to spend, but I'm very curious. I also have little to no idea what the typical cost of a project like this is. Licensing exclusivity is not an issue.
I had the idea recently, and it may be too pie-in-the-sky to be realistic, but I'd like to get a sense as to whether there's any precedent and if there would be thorny legal issues. I'd appreciate any informed thoughts on the subject. I'd like to make it a reality, but for now it's purely a hypothetical.
*I have no idea how well the family is selling.
