Variable Fonts and Responsive Typography
summary
Variable fonts let one file act like many and reduce font requests while often matching or beating combined static sizes — e.g. Source Sans variable ~112 KB versus a single static weight 111 KB, subsetting drops it to 26 KB. Demos show CSS axes (wght, wdth, opsz) driven by media queries, JS (viewport-to-weight mapping code), device orientation, microphone volume and the ambient light sensor only in Chrome and Edge; creative animations and responsive logos run as selectable text and perform acceptably.
AI-written summary · about
chapters (13)
- 0:00Introduction to variable fonts
- 1:45How I got into variable fonts
- 2:46What are variable fonts?
- 5:30Browser support and fallback
- 7:06Using variable fonts in CSS
- 8:38Registered and custom axes
- 10:52Where to find and test fonts
- 13:03Performance considerations
- 17:53Creative design opportunities
- 20:36Animating and interactive text
- 27:48Responsive typography and design
- 31:33JavaScript and input control
- 39:15Conclusion and resources
related talks
30mVariable Fonts and the Flexible Nature of Screens and Devices
36mVariable Fonts and Dynamic Typography with CSS
19mVariable Fonts and the Future of Web Design
33mVariable Fonts: WTF?
29mVery Responsive Typography with Variable Fonts
49mDynamic Typography with Variable Fonts
20mDynamic Typographic Systems with Variable Fonts
32mModern Typographic Systems With Variable Fonts
