After over a decade of unbearable waiting, false starts, and interminable doldrums, it’s just possible that 2010 may be spring-time for Web Typography. A perfect storm of new techniques coupled with new Web browser capabilities promise to elevate Web Typography from its current monotonous state into an actual creative discipline, and this might happen more quickly than expected.
Since 1998, the promise of downloadable fonts—the ability to embed any typeface we need in our designs—has been just over the horizon. But just like the horizon, it has seemed as if the more we move towards that goal the further it moves away. As a result, Web design has suffered greatly, with the same 5 fonts being used over and over and over.
I don’t want to bore you with the details, but here’s a quick recap of what is happening in the world of Web Typography that will change the way you design this year.
Web Safe Fonts
The most likely source of new typefaces for designers to choose from has been right under our noses—pre-installed fonts. Every OS has a list of typefaces that the manufacturer has placed on every machine that gets shipped. Windows includes around 16 fonts and Macs have a little over 30. Couple this list with the fonts installed by Microsoft Office (and let’s face it, who doesn’t have Office installed) and Apple iLife (standard on all Macs) and the list of pre-installed fonts soars to around 180. Admittedly, not all of those fonts will be available across all operating systems, but there are over 60 fonts that are available on both Windows and Mac. For a sortable list of these fonts, check out my list of Web-safe fonts.
Downloadable Fonts
Both Firefox and Safari now include the ability to download the two most common font file format types Open Type (OTF) and True Type (TTF) and Opera will soon follow suite. The only hold out, is Internet Explorer, which currently holds the majority of the Browser market.
The OTF, TTF, and EOT Debate
While it is unlikely (unlikely as in “over Bill Gates’ dead body”) that IE will ever support OTF or TTF, IE has support it’s own font file format for download—Embedded Open Type (EOT)—since version 4. Microsoft, and many type foundries, like EOT because it includes DRM to prevent unlawful use of the the property. Although this severely limits the font choices available, it at least opens the possibility of having downloadable fonts.
However, it is possible that browser manufacturers may agree to some restrictions on how OTF and TTF are downloaded. For example, they could restrict the use of the font so that only the referring domain could access the font in it’s pages (so, no sharing). They can “sandbox” the file or encrypt it so that the end user could not steal the font. To be effective, though, these restrictions would need to be agreed to by all browser manufacturers.
A New Font Format?
Right now, a new Working Group is being set up within the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) to consider the possibility of creating an entirely new font file format, or at least a font file wrapper, to be used exclusively on the Web. This new format might be EOT, or an EOT light, or possibly something entirely new.
The obvious disadvantage of a new format is that it will likely be restrictive, including some level of DRM and will require us to buy the font in the new format, rather than choosing from the thousands we might already own. On the upside, though, a new format will also likely include some form of file compression that will speed font file downloading.
The debate rages on at the W3C, and, given the snail like pace of previous initiatives, this may not see fruit for many years. If you want to see the sausage being made, you can join the mailing list discussion and either look or contribute your own ideas.
Downloadable Font Services
The most promising idea on the horizon for Web typography are the several Web Font services that will allow you to bridge this gap in file font formats between browsers. They promise to allow you to select from increasingly large lists of fonts that can then be licensed and downloaded for use on your Web site. None of the services literally sell the fonts, instead they allow you to choose from an assortment of free and priced fonts, add code your Web site that will then download the files from their own servers, restricting access to a domain you specify (so, no sharing).
The top contenders differ mostly in their interfaces and how the fonts are embedded:
- Kernest: Uses a link to tag to an external CSS file, which includes the @font-face rule sourcing a file specific to the browser type of the end user. I tested Kernest out on my other blog, JasonSpeaking, in the site title. I found Kernest’s interface a little slow and difficult to navigate, but once my fonts were chosen, it was a breeze to deploy them.
- TypeKit: Uses JavaScript to embed the font-file directly into the page. I tested this out on the Yuri’s Night web site, the interface was clean and easy to use, but I didn’t have any success getting the fonts to display once I added the code to my Web site. I’m not 100% clear yet why it’s not working, and I haven’t had a chance to talk to TypeKit about it yet, but I’ll be playing around with it some more in the coming weeks and let you know.
As great as it is to see these new endeavors, they both have some systemic issues, especially for designers, that will need to be addressed:
- If you don’t already own the font, but want to do visual comps, how do you design without the font?
- You have to rely on someone else’s servers, which might slow down your Web site.
- It appears as if fonts will be licensed per domain, which is kind of like licensing a font per document.
Tags: Web Design by jason
2 Comments »
I’m underway writing my next book, Fluid Web Typography: A Guide , which will be out this fall. As with Speaking in Styles: The Fundamentals of CSS for Web Designers , I’ll be doing the layout myself. I got some input on the cover, but it’s not completely mine this time.
Speaking in Styles