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Design Typography for Designers Going Further with Type Variable Fonts

Gregory Livingston
Gregory Livingston
876 Points
Posted by Gregory Livingston
Gregory Livingston
876 Points

Are variable fonts faux weight/style?

The Font Weights, Styles, and Sizes video advises against using weights and styles that are programmatically generated. However, that seems to be exactly what the Variable Fonts video is demonstrating.

So, is there something I misunderstood about faux weights/styles that does not apply to variable fonts? Or, is it more like: you can use faux weights, but you should be careful about it?

Anyway. Thanks for your help!

2 Answers

Daniel Montgomery
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STAFF
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Daniel Montgomery
Treehouse Staff
Daniel Montgomery
.a{fill-rule:evenodd;}techdegree seal-36
Daniel Montgomery
Treehouse Staff

Hey Gregory Livingston,

While you're using the software/browser to manipulate the variable fonts, they were still designed by typography designers to have these different styling options and varied looks. Whereas faux fonts are simply made bolder or italic by digitally recreating that, thus not producing a true version of the font that looks natural to the eye.

Gregory Livingston
Gregory Livingston
876 Points
Gregory Livingston
Gregory Livingston
876 Points

I understand, I think that was a bit of nuance I didn't get. Makes sense to me now, thanks!

Peter Vann
Peter Vann
36,427 Points
Peter Vann
Peter Vann
36,427 Points

Hi Gregory!

Variable fonts are a new technology and are not necessarily supported by all modern browsers.

Yes, I believe they have their place, but should be used with caution.

More info:

https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/css-variable-fonts

https://github.com/Fyrd/caniuse/issues/4010

I hope that helps.

Stay safe and happy coding!

Gregory Livingston
Gregory Livingston
876 Points
Gregory Livingston
Gregory Livingston
876 Points

Got it. Thank you for the clarification and links!