Content is a key aspect when creating a website and you can use typography to enhance it. While there are other design aspects, good typography helps in displaying content that is easily read and understood.
What are web fonts?
Web fonts are fonts that are used in a website that is not installed by default on the end user’s computer. When a web page is rendered, the browser downloads web fonts, which are subsequently used to format the text. Web fonts are resources that must be downloaded, which has an impact on how quickly pages load overall. The more web fonts you employ, the longer it will take for websites to load.
What fonts are supported on the web?
Technically, any website can have any font added to it. It is best to consider the cost, the licensing terms, and the installation process when looking for a font online.
Here are some of the common font libraries to help you find the ideal font:
Google Fonts (FREE!)
Google fonts are the simplest fonts to use because of their Developer API. And they have a collection of over 1000 fonts with free licenses available to view in their interactive online directory.
Adobe Fonts (Paid)
Adobe Fonts or previously known as Adobe Typekit boasts a library of more than 14,000 fonts available from Adobe. They allow Creative Cloud subscribers quick access to their full font library.
More Custom Fonts
If you are looking for other custom fonts not within Google Fonts or Adobe Fonts, you can always find it elsewhere on the internet. Or even create them yourself (not for the faint hearted). Be sure to acquire fonts from trusted foundries that are well reviewed and popular on the Internet. You don’t want to risk using malicious fonts from shady sources.
Web-Safe Fonts?
Take note that only user computers with the font downloaded and installed will be able to see them, while others without will see fallback fonts rendered available on their computers. This calls for an understanding of what is web safe font, and how to use them to gracefully fallback to them.
Font Licensing
A final note. Always bear in mind your use case and the licensing tied to the fonts of choice. It is necessary for users, developers or designers to make license checking a part of the production process. Any font, whether purchased or distributed for free has a corresponding license which you should be aware of, and have a valid copy of. You may risk violating font licensing if you load, deploy or install fonts from websites without owning the rights. As it is assumed that you have accepted the license terms when you use a font.
