As the zeitgeist around variable fonts builds, people are falling into a few different camps. There are those (like myself) that are stoked about the possibilities and new types of fun to be had. Luckily, Future Fonts has arrived at a perfect time for designers like me to begin not only building variable fonts, but actually getting them in the hands of designers who can use them. At the moment, Illustrator and Photoshop are the only Adobe applications that support the variable-ness, but that’s a lot better than nothing, and more are on the way.

The opposing camp is full of people that sincerely do not give a fuck. I completely understand this, as most people are just trying to be good employees. At the end of the day, what is the incentive for understanding and using this new technology? It will not get you a raise, acclaim at the workplace, or even respect from your peers, because they also do not give a fuck.

With that in mind, I wanted to outline some possible benefits for designers to use variable fonts in ways that are practical and exciting.

Print

The AIGA logo seems like a nice place to start, as most designers are familiar with it, and perhaps even aware of its pitfalls. The logo is quote sharp, but by the looks of the thin thins, it is intended for an extremely large size. One might even go so far as to say it’s unfortunate that the American Institute for Graphic Arts has a logo that doesn’t work small.