Not writ in stone
the future is variable!
• levels of functionality
• speedy downloading
• editable proportions
• varied kerning
• variation of axes, such as weight, width, slant and more
• limitless design solutions
A variable font is a single font file that behaves like multiple fonts. This reduces file size and therefore bandwidth. It is the one, indispensable universal type treatment.
Its single font file makes it easier to use and wickedly fast. More freedom. More expression.
I have recently discovered a website axis-praxis which is used for experimenting with open-type variable fonts, check it out.
Check out Pentagram/Paula Scher’s logo design from 1994, The Public Theater in New York City. This is what variable design solutions can look like.
They were prescient with the use of this ‘play with type’ even before typesetting was digitized and have all been on our laptops creating multitudes of design expression at our finger tips. This logo THE PUBLIC demonstrates the capabilities of solving creatively a graphic problem through type and movement (even static). It obviously still holds the test of time.
Optical sizings, visual movements, multiple axes, technical speeds, etc. add to the options one can simply imagine as a designer looking for solutions. This is not the only way forward, but it is a new tool that one must educate oneself with, so that as a creative, you don’t get stagnant and become easily satisfied.
With it’s advent of motion, variable fonts (check out the promo for Helvetica Now) allow for the ‘play’ of each letterform. Today’s audiences are absolutely attracted to the dynamic visual and here is where you can take advantage of this capability.
Do not assume that I have forgotten non motion oriented graphic solutions. There too I have learned advantages to utilizing variable type. Within the development of these typefaces, the technical advancement of the speed in which these letterforms download improve performance and therefore success on the client/market side of things. A direct ROI.
As time moves on, more and more companies are introducing their new versions of variable font families. Even if you are still skeptical due to some obstacles, keep an eye on this trend because it is now, and it is the future!