Image courtesy of Norman Posselt/Monotype. TrueType GX and variable fonts pioneer David Berlow explains Font Bureau’s approach to the new format. How do you price a single font that contains an entire type family within it? How can you make customers understand the superior capabilities and added value of variable fonts without overwhelming them? Even if you don’t share his opinions, Levée’s insights offer food for thought. Marketing, for example, continues to be a thorny subject.
Beyond that, the new standard has other issues. The main challenge remains the development of a user interface that makes applying font variations intelligible and intuitive. The potential of the new format may blow minds-64,000 axes for interpolation!-but Levée is still waiting for basic updates to the OpenType spec, such as the ability to include more than twenty stylistic sets or use longer font names. Because of my work with the Adobe Typography Customer Advisory Board, I found myself nodding along with his opening statement for “ A designer perspective on OpenType Font Variations-chances and risks”: many users still struggle with OpenType features, said Levée, and variable fonts will add another level of complexity. I’ve come to appreciate Jean-Baptiste Levée’s philosophical and slightly irreverent but committed approach to typeface design and typefounding. A grounded look at variable fonts Jean-Baptiste Levée discusses the commercial viability of variable fonts from the perspective of a type designer and type founder.
Although variable fonts make another appearance in this second and final installment, this part focuses on so-called non-Latin typeface design and development-starting with why the “non-Latin” moniker is so problematic. The first part of this report focused on the technical aspects of the new OpenType 1.8 specification.
Yes, TYPO Labs 2017 tackled more than just variable fonts-but the new technology maintained a constant presence in the background.
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