Orangutan Studio Blog » typography

In your @font-face

Michelle B — Fri, 07 May 2010 19:16:06 +0000

I was directed to a very interesting blog post the other day about Web FontFonts. Up until now the only half decent way to get around the limitations of web safe fonts has been to use a javascript replacement solution such as sIFR or Cufón. Which is all well and good but they do have limitations. For example, the actual process of swapping the text takes time and means that javascript replacement should be kept to a minimum. Plus, don’t forget that many users browse the web with Javascript disabled and some users don’t even have Flash which of course means that the replacement doesn’t work at all. Not to mention the legal implications of font licensing. The list goes on…

Cue the new @font-face CSS3 rule. @font-face allows fonts to be automatically retrieved from a server when required. This means that we’re no longer limited to the fonts installed on a users machine.

“This fairly new addition to CSS allows fonts to be linked in web pages and downloaded by browsers so that anyone who visits the page can view the fonts declared by the page’s designer.”

Obviously @font-face requires actual fonts to work and this is where Web FontFonts come into play. Web FontFonts are specifically licensed for use in this way and are available from fontshop.com. So far this new method seems only limited by the current fontshop collection, at 30 families it’s hardly a library, but it’s a start, a long overdue one at that.

As far as implementation is concerned, I might be inclined to hang on for a while and wait until more fonts become available.

Want more exciting CSS stuff? Check this out!

Eastern Inspiration

Andy H — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 19:09:05 +0000

Polish movie posters continue to be a rich source of inspiration and amusement for me (i think this one looks a bit like neil).

Buy some on ebay

Kaalam, light caligrapher

Michelle B — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 19:19:01 +0000

I love the neon quality of light sculpture. I also love the process, the idea of not knowing how something is going to turn out until you see it through the lens of a camera. Julien Breton’s work is an amazing example of the possibilities the format has to offer!

Michelle is on her hols

Andy H — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 09:49:39 +0000

But she sent us this, which is (in my opinion) ace.

Si Scott

Michelle B — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 06:56:50 +0000

Si Scott has fantastic hand drawn style, well worth a gander! If you get a chance have a look at ‘The Secret of Drawing’ below.

Boss(a)

Andy H — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 11:55:44 +0000

Bossa.net has more album covers than you can shake a… ummm… hi-hat.. at…

I have no idea what it is, someone’s collection? a shop? Not sure i care either, there’s some awesome stuff on here.

Yes, Comic Sans is in there…

Andy H — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 12:17:23 +0000

Rather addictive this

I only got 23 on first go…