Chapter 2: Variable Fonts: What They Are, and How to Use Them

by Claudio Ribeiro

In this article, we'll take a look at the exciting new possibilities surrounding variable fonts — now bundled with the OpenType scalable font format — which allows a single font to behave like multiple fonts.

How We Got Here

When HTML was created, fonts and styles were controlled exclusively by the settings of each web browser. In the mid ’90s, the first typefaces for screen-based media were created: Georgia and Verdana. These, together with the system fonts — Arial, Times New Roman, and Helvetica — were the only fonts available for web browsers (not exactly the only ones, but the ones we could find in every operating system).

With the evolution of web browsers ...

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