Recursive, a free variable font for code and UI, now on Google Fonts

Post by seanwilson » Thu, Jul 23, 2020, 6:49 PM UTC

rememberlenny wrote: post #20

seanwilson wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are variable fonts supposed to have a smaller file size? The examples I've looked at have been bigger than including all the variations you'd expect to use of the non-variable version. Are there examples of a significant file size saving? Generally with web design, you want to stick to a small number of font weights anyway so if the file size isn't smaller, what's the core motivation?

It depends. The font rendering process is based around "masters" which can vary in count. One font could have one master for all the weights, or multiple masters - for the bold/normal/light. Depending on the master count, the size can differ. The key thing also is the number of web requests. This is not a trivial detail. One variable font can be less web requests.

Post by kanobo » Thu, Jul 23, 2020, 7:09 PM UTC

jordache wrote: post #23

why is this a big deal? can someone provide insight?

Post by kanobo » Thu, Jul 23, 2020, 7:11 PM UTC

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Jul 23, 2020, 7:58 PM UTC

ape4 wrote: post #7

phaedryx wrote: post #3

There are several things I look for in a "code" font: distinct 0 vs O, distinct l vs 1, readability, etc. I don't think I'd use this for code, but I might for UI. Edit: it seems that the variations are more code-oriented when you shift the code more "MONO" (based on experimentation on its website)

In fact instead of "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" there should be a standard sentence for code fonts using those characters. Zero[0] = Oh[0]; One[1] = El[l]; or something ;)

Post by MildlySerious » Thu, Jul 23, 2020, 8:36 PM UTC

airstrike wrote: post #11

chrisdalke wrote: post #10

The Google Fonts page doesn't really do justice to how dynamic this font is -- https://www.recursive.design/ has a live demo that shows more of the options, maybe the link should be changed to their demo. There are four dimensions and a few other flags that the font can be adjusted by in CSS: natural-width to fixed-width, Linear to "Casual", Font weight, Font slant, and cursive variants. By tweaking any of the variab…

The question is: do we need flexible fonts? Other than fine-tuning the monospace font to fit your exact preferences given the hours you spend coding, everything else seems to be a matter of just picking an appropriate type that fits your project