Bram Stein

Author of the Webfont Handbook: Tweets on web typography and front-end development.

[Bram Stein @bram_stein]

It’s here! Go buy the Webfont Handbook and learn about rendering, licensing & optimising your webfont loading!

https://t.co/A8Buv58frc

[Mark Simonson Studio @marksimonson]

For the first time since 2007, you can buy fonts directly from my website again. Also, live, editable font previews. At last! https://t.co/qXfKzszhx7

[Mark Simonson Studio @marksimonson]

My latest typeface release is Dreamboat, based on the classic early twentieth century "bold script" style of lettering, still seen on logos for baseball teams, car companies, beer and soft drink brands. More info: https://t.co/H8iZOySaEL https://t.co/FtK4tB1S1p

[Bram Stein @bram_stein]

@Lorp @justvanrossum @NickSherman @davelab6 @googlefonts This one: https://t.co/dBrctl7n3u

You can access the data with BigQuery: https://t.co/bIASIpnxuM

The code that extracts data from fonts is here: https://t.co/YGDp1NwmUJ (you can query for counts.num_glyphs).

[Bram Stein @bram_stein]

Variable font usage has grown to an impressive 29% (up from 13%). About 97% of variable font usage is from @GoogleFonts; only 3% from self-hosting and other services.

Most people use variable fonts for performance and not for their typographic potential.

https://t.co/x9feIBjhRO

[Bram Stein @bram_stein]

@Lorp @justvanrossum @NickSherman @davelab6 @googlefonts Do you mean typical numGlyphs for fonts on the web? If so, that data is available in the HTTP Archive.

[Bram Stein @bram_stein]

@NickSherman @davelab6 @justvanrossum @googlefonts There shouldn't be a big difference (apart from some metadata in the CFF table). Perhaps the difference is in the other tables? The article compares only the outline tables.

[Bram Stein @bram_stein]

@NickSherman @davelab6 @justvanrossum @googlefonts Me too! There are 189 CFF2 fonts used on the web compared to 9 million glyf and nearly a million CFF fonts, so not a fair comparison.

Based on the spec I don't expect a huge difference: CFF2 will be slightly smaller, but not a strong reason for picking one format over the other

[Bram Stein @bram_stein]

@NickSherman @davelab6 @justvanrossum @googlefonts One small correction the data shows CFF (not CFF2) vs. glyf sizes. Over the entire dataset the difference is negligible (and should not be a reason for picking one over another).

There insufficient data on CFF2 for a conclusion (though I doubt there will be a large difference).

[Bram Stein @bram_stein]

@justvanrossum @NickSherman @googlefonts Only about 25% of the fonts on Adobe Fonts are CFF based (source: the WOFF2 evaluation report). It's probably a combination of all the things mentioned. I agree that the statement in the article is too simplistic.

[Bram Stein @bram_stein]

@simoncozens @Lorp Textures with alpha channels!

[Bram Stein @bram_stein]

@PixelAmbacht Yes, it is official. Doom runs on variable COLRv1 fonts.

[Bram Stein @bram_stein]

@simoncozens I think the hidden surface removal can be baked into the animation axis using intermediate regions, but it is a little awkward. Tying compositing modes to variable axes would simplify a lot!

[Bram Stein @bram_stein]

@simoncozens Yea, I was hoping for something that works as you transform (i.e. a front-facing surface becomes a back-facing surface). For example, if I wanted to spin this glyph around.

[Bram Stein @bram_stein]

@simoncozens Nice! I've been working on converting arbitrary 3D models into variable/colr by projecting them into the 2D plane using outline based triangles. Haven't quite figured out hidden surface removal yet, but getting there.

[Bram Stein @bram_stein]

@simoncozens Ah yes!

[Bram Stein @bram_stein]

@simoncozens Hoping :) A 3D mesh baked into a variable font?

[Bram Stein @bram_stein]

@simoncozens Ohhh, if that's what I think it is, we should talk!

[Bram Stein @bram_stein]

@KhaledGhetas I agree. With only a handful of CFF2 fonts in existence, and the only tangible benefit of CFF2 being cubic beziers, wouldn't it make more sense to stop investing in CFF2, mark it as deprecated and move on?

[Bram Stein @bram_stein]

Slightly over 99.99% of variable fonts use TrueType glyph outlines. Not a good look for the CFF2 format six years after it was standardized. Perhaps time to deprecate it?

https://t.co/x9feIBjhRO

[Bram Stein @bram_stein]

@KhaledGhetas I think that's one of the reasons: lack of tooling, implementations, etc. With usage this low, I wonder if resources wouldn't be better spent on other things (like adding cubic bezier support to glyf).

[Bram Stein @bram_stein]

@heydonworks @zachleat 👋Hi Heydon!