The document discusses the evolving landscape of web fonts and their integration into web design, highlighting insights from a survey conducted at TypeCon 2011. Results show that 94% of designers use web fonts, with a strong preference for quality over quantity and a desire for greater control similar to print typography. Key themes include the importance of designer workflows, improved rendering, and the future of typography on the web.

1. WHERE THE RUBBER MEETS THE ROAD
WHERE ARE (WEB) DESIGNERS
GOING WITH WEB FONTS?
TYPECON 2011: SURGE

2. WHO ARE
THESE GUYS?

3. BRIAN
WARREN
HAPPY COG/BUTTER LABEL

4. LUKE
DORNY
NEWSVINE/BUTTER LABEL

5. SCOTT
BOMS
LL&S/BUTTER LABEL

6. THE PAST

7. 500+
YEARS OF PRINT

8. A BRIEF HISTORY OF TYPE ON THE WEB
15
YEARS of CSS TYPE
10
YEARS of HACKS
2
YEARS of WEB FONTS

10. “ We look at the present through a rear-view mirror.
We march backwards into the future.” MARSHALL McLUHAN
This photograph is copyright © Henri Dauman/The Estate of Marshall McLuhan and may not be used without permission.

11. SURVEY The complete results are available at
http://bit.ly/wfsr2011

12. A BIT ABOUT THE SURVEY

13. A BIT ABOUT THE SURVEY
13
QUESTIONS
5
DAYS
235
RESPONSES

14. 94%
6%
of web designers are
94%
using web fonts
YES NO

15. HOW DESIGNERS ARE CHOOSING TYPE
Optimized for Small Sizes
Fallback Font Availability
Range of Weights and Styles
Number of Glyphs
Language Support
Availability of Special Characters
Pairings from Same Web Font Service
Appropriateness for the Project
0 50 100 150 200

16. 9%
91%
want better quality web
fonts rather than just
91%
more of them
QUALITY QUANTITY

17. 34% 66%
prefer hosted web font
66% services such as Typekit,
FontDeck, WebType, etc.
HOSTED SELF-HOSTED

18. 47%
37% 84%
sometimes or always
talk to clients about
16%
using web fonts
YES NO SOMETIMES

19. WHERE WE’RE
GOING

20. Web designers simply want the same
control print has enjoyed for decades

21. BY EXAMPLE

22. SAGINAW by ?
BASKERVILLE by Monotype

23. MOD REGULAR by Font Fabric
HERO LIGHT by Svetoslav Simov

24. BREE by TypeTogether
Skolar by TypeTogether

25. LIQUORSTORE by Chank Co.

26. COQUETTE by Mark Simonson

27. HELLENIC WIDE by Veer
PROXIMA NOVA by Mark Simonson

28. 01. RENDERING

29. PLATFORMS & VIEWPORTS

31. 02. LITTLE DETAILS

32. “We’re rediscovering typography.”
JON TAN

35. 03. IDENTIFICATION & PAIRING

37. 04. WORKFLOW & INTEGRATION

38. SURVEY QUESTION:
“ What would be most helpful to you as a
designer to make web fonts better?”

39. ACTUAL ANSWER:
“ It’d be really great to have some way to
design in Photoshop/Illustrator with a
font I have a web license for.”

40. Original concept by Elliot Jay Stocks

41. 05. POLYFILLS

42. Polyfills close the gaps created by
browsers that support more advanced
features of the HTML and CSS specs

46. 06. BEYOND THE BROWSER

48. “ The future of the web is the
future of typography.”
N ICK S HE RMA N

49. THANK YOU
@scottboms @mrwarren @luxuryluke