NEDcamp, Providence, 23 November, 2019

Dynamic Typographic Systems &
Variable Fonts

 

https://rwt.io | @jpamental
Itinerant typographer,
Walker of collies

Type is the voice of our words

It’s how we ‘hear’ what we read

“There are no crystal goblets, no defaults devoid of friction. Design has visible surfaces, inevitably, and they brim with significance and context and connotation and intent and tone”

—Nina Stössinger

The Odyssey, Book I

Tell me, O muse, of that ingenious hero who travelled far and wide after he had sacked the famous town of Troy. Many cities did he visit, and many were the nations with whose manners and customs he was acquainted; moreover he suffered much by sea while trying to save his own life and bring his men safely home; but do what he might he could not save his men, for they perished through their own sheer folly in eating the cattle of the Sun-god Hyperion; so the god prevented them from ever reaching home. Tell me, too, about all these things, O daughter of Jove, from whatsoever source you may know them.

Part 1: Typesetting
Part 2: Scaling
Part 3: Performance

  h2 {
    font-size: 1.75rem;
  }
  p {
    font-size: 1rem;
  }

  @media (min-width: 55em) {
    h2 {
      font-size: 2.25rem;
    }
    p {
      font-size: 1.25rem;
    }
  }

[Font size proportion scaled]
[Fallback fonts, uncorrected]

  p {
    font-family: Jost, Helvetica, sans-serif;
    font-size: 1rem;
    line-height: 1.5;
  }
  .wf-inactive p {
    font-family: Jost, Helvetica, sans-serif;
    font-size: 0.975rem;
    line-height: 1.495;
  }

[Fallback fonts, corrected]
[Web fonts loaded]



First, foundations

New techniques in CSS

The Odyssey, Book I

Tell me, O muse, of that ingenious hero who travelled far and wide after he had sacked the famous town of Troy. Many cities did he visit, and many were the nations with whose manners and customs he was acquainted; moreover he suffered much by sea while trying to save his own life and bring his men safely home; but do what he might he could not save his men, for they perished through their own sheer folly in eating the cattle of the Sun-god Hyperion; so the god prevented them from ever reaching home. Tell me, too, about all these things, O daughter of Jove, from whatsoever source you may know them.


  .this-heading {
    --heading-color: #212171;
  }


  .this-heading.changed {
    --heading-color: #914141;
  }


  .this-heading {
    --heading-size: 5;
    font-size: calc( var(--heading-size) * 1vw );
  }


  .this-heading {
    --heading-size: 5;
    font-size: calc( var(--heading-size) * 1vw );
  }
  .this-heading.changed {
    --heading-size: 6;
  }


  .this-heading {
    --heading-weight: 700;
    --heading-width: 100;
    font-weight: var(--heading-weight);
    font-stretch: calc( var(--heading-width) * 1% );
  }


  .this-heading.thinner {
    --heading-weight: 150;
    --heading-width: 80;
  }

The Odyssey, Book I

Tell me, O muse, of that ingenious hero who travelled far and wide after he had sacked the famous town of Troy. Many cities did he visit, and many were the nations with whose manners and customs he was acquainted; moreover he suffered much by sea while trying to save his own life and bring his men safely home; but do what he might he could not save his men, for they perished through their own sheer folly in eating the cattle of the Sun-god Hyperion; so the god prevented them from ever reaching home. Tell me, too, about all these things, O daughter of Jove, from whatsoever source you may know them.

A little bit

Tell me, O muse, of that ingenious hero who travelled far and wide after he had sacked the famous town of Troy.

Can go farther

Many cities did he visit, and many were the nations with whose manners and customs he was acquainted

Than one expects

Moreover he suffered much by sea while trying to save his own life and bring his men safely home


  .small-card {
    --h3-size: 3;
    --p-size: 1.6;
  }


  .sidebar .small-card {
    --h3-size: 2.5;
    --p-size: 1.5;
  }

You might be asking

What was that strange magic in Slide 24?

A variable font is a single font file that behaves like multiple fonts

—John Hudson

a
a
a
a
a
a
a
a
a
a
a
a
a
a
a
width
width
weight
weight
x-height
x-height

  .width.super-floof {
    font-stretch: 140%;
  }
  .width.petite-puffle {
    font-stretch: 50%;
  }

  .weight.chonky-boi {
    font-weight: 900;
  }
  .weight.skinny-minnie {
    font-weight: 500;
  }

  .x-height.bubba-bear {
    font-variation-settings: 'YTLC' 600;
  }
  .x-height.lil-bit {
    font-variation-settings: 'YTLC' 450;
  }
slant

  .slant.naptime {
    font-style: oblique 12deg;
  }

Tristan & Tillie
Fluffy puffles

ADVENTURE PALS
Taking on the World

FANCY FLUFFERS
Stealing all the attention

Wandering around Turner Reservoir, sniffing all the sniffs, chasing all the squirrels, and muddying up some paws.

Friction reduction

improving the reading experience

calc( [size-min]em + ( [size-max] - [size-min] ) * ((100vw - [start]em ) / ( [stop] - [start] )));

“Please scale from 2.25em on small screens up to 5em on largest ones, starting at viewport width of 25em and stopping at 75em or larger”

“The role of the typographer has changed. We no longer decide; we make suggestions”

—Tim Brown


  :root {
    /* default light mode colors */
    --color-bg: #f9f9fd;
    --color-text: #414141;
  
    /* initial variable font values */
    --text-GRAD: -0.1;
  }


  @media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
    --color-text: #f9f9fd;
    --color-bg: #414141;
    p {
      --text-GRAD: 0.25;
      letter-spacing: 0.015em;
    }
  }


  :root {
    /* default light mode colors */
    --color-bg: #f9f9fd;
    --color-text: #414141;
  
    /* initial variable font values */
    --text-GRAD: -0.1;
  }


  .contrast {
    /* higher contrast colors */
    --color-bg: #fafafe;
    --color-text: #212121;
  }
  .contrast p {
    --text-GRAD: 0.75;
    letter-spacing: 0.005em;
  }


  .bigtext {
    --p-size-min: 1.25;
    --p-size-mid: 1.375;
    --p-size-max: 1.5;
  }


  .spacing {
    --p-lh-min: 2.2;
    --p-lh-mid: 2.4;
    --p-lh-max: 2.6;
  }
  .spacing p {
    word-spacing: 0.75em;
  }


:root {
  /* font stack */
  --font-stack: "Roboto Delta", sans-serif;
  --font-stack-serif: "Gimlet VF", serif;
}
.theme-alt {
  font-family: var(--font-stack-serif);  
}
.theme-alt p {
  --text-wght: 400;
}
@media screen and (min-width: 25em) {
  .theme-alt p {
    --text-wght: 375;
}
@media screen and (min-width: 45em) {
  .theme-alt p {
    --text-wght: 350;
  }
}
@media screen and (min-width: 55em) {
  .theme-alt p {
    --text-wght: 330;
  }
}

Transfer friction: intentional tension

sometimes typography needs to be challenging

IBM Plex Sans Variable
transform
16 files
960kb
into
2 files
233kb
!
Avenir Next
FF Meta
Neue Frutiger
Univers Next
1 4 8
million

FF Meta

by Monotype

Input Mono

by DJR

Jost*

by indestrictible type*

Okay

by Okay Type

Recursive

by ArrowType & Google Fonts

Roboto Delta

by Google & Type Network

Roslindale & Roslindale Italic

by DJR

Gimlet

by DJR

Source Serif

by Adobe

Univers Next

by Linotype

Proxima Nova BETA

by Mark Simonson

Amstelvar

by Type Network

Plex Sans

by IBM

Portada

by TypeTogether

Hepta Slab & Crimson Pro

by Google Fonts

thank you

Jason Pamental

  • https://rwt.io | @jpamental
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