High-quality free serif fonts are readily available, making it easier for designers to create professional work without breaking the bank.

When choosing a serif font, consider its readability, style, and how well it complements other design elements. Factors like the font’s weight, spacing, and overall aesthetic impact are essential.

This collection shares some of the best free serif fonts currently available, providing you with typefaces that combine aesthetics and functionality.

You might also like our collection of free Slab Serif fonts.

Running Free

Glyphs are kind of a big deal these days, with the likes of Font Awesome and Dashicons being in such wide use. In this example, a variable font with a single glyph of an emoji horse was used to create a nifty animation. Through the use of CSS font-variation-settings, the author was able to ensure an ultra-smooth effect.

See the Pen Muybridge galloping horse by Laurence Penney

Animate Your (Font) Weight

One of the big advantages of having the entirety of a font’s styles in one file is that you can transition between them in a snap. In this case, we see a highly-detailed and mesmerizing animation between different weights of the IBM Plex Sans font.

See the Pen Variable font animation by Michelle Barker

Interactive Art

Here’s an example of a variable font being used as part of a larger piece of online art. Instead of animating a single word or headline, this snippet mimics a poster – albeit an animated one. The transition from hollow characters to filled (and back again) is truly slick. The sequencing is spot on. Years ago, this might have taken hours of tedious work in Flash to accomplish.

See the Pen Variable Font Experiment No.2 by Mark Frömberg

Style Slider

Perhaps no snippet in this collection better demonstrates what a variable font is than this one. Use the sliders at the bottom of the screen to add custom weight, stretch and sizing to the Venn VF font. Notice the ease with which the settings changes are displayed.

See the Pen Variable font demo by Frida Nyvall

Have It Your Way

At first glance, this example looks like a nicely formatted poem. But there’s more than just a basic title and text here. Click on the “Jigger the First Stanza” and “Rejigger Title” buttons to the right, and you’ll be in for a treat. Font styles change fluidly and instantaneously. And it’s a great demonstration of how individual characters can be targeted as well.

See the Pen Goblin Market with Variable Fonts by Chris Coyier

The Full Effect

When you combine variable fonts, CSS3 and JavaScript, great things can happen. And you don’t need to look further than this example to see why. This attractive text has a delightful stretchy hover effect, which is cool on its own. But change the included settings panel, and you’ll get an even more in-depth sense of what is possible.

See the Pen Variable Fonts | Compressa by Juan Fuentes

So Slinky

Let’s close things out with something unique. This snippet uses the WHOA variable font to create an incredible 3D effect that shifts the view of this outline text based on your cursor position. Again, this is something that, a few years ago, would require some serious animation software to achieve. Now, the different perspectives are built right into the font. From there, it’s a matter of using some clever coding to put it in motion.

See the Pen Slinky Text – WHOA Variable font demo by Jérôme Sprenger Sèvegrand

A New Era in Typography

With variable fonts, web typography has become an even greater resource for creating a compelling UX. Thanks to their ability to instantly change styles and target specific characters through data splitting, a whole new level of special effects are possible.

As the examples above demonstrate, there is plenty of room for creativity. And what’s really exciting is that the fonts themselves have so many goodies baked right in.

That being said, we’re really just beginning to scratch the surface of what these fonts can do. It will be amazing to see what the future brings.

The post 7 Fantastic Examples of Variable Fonts in Action appeared first on Speckyboy Design Magazine.

Your choice depends on your design style, target audience, and message. Typically, headline fonts are larger and more distinguished. The point is to ensure they are legible and do not overpower the design.

This collection offers over 40 clean, highly legible, and beautiful free fonts for creating headlines and titles in web and print designs. These fonts will give your typography the professional quality your readers and users demand.

The right font can significantly improve your design, whether for a website, a poster, or any print material. Use this collection to find the perfect headline and title font for your next project.

Find Fonts That Fit Your Message

Typography is a means to an end. It’s used to convey a message or feeling and also establishes consistency across a brand.

However, this can be a great challenge for web designers. In some cases, we’re only handed a logo to use as the basis for the overall look. That’s not much to go on.

It’s far easier when a client has an established style guide. This enables us to step right in and carry on with the brand’s existing identity.

But even without that data, it’s still possible to get typography right. Consider the site’s intended audience, subject matter, and content. Taken together, these factors should at least help to point you in the right direction.

For example, knowing that a site’s core audience is children opens up the possibility of fun fonts. Likewise, having long-form content means that legibility and spacing are crucial.

The more you know about the project, the more informed your decisions will be.

Consider the Font Source

These days, there are many places to find great-looking fonts. Whether it’s a recognizable name like Google or a small foundry – we don’t lack creative options. But the source does matter for several reasons.

Font Licensing

Font licensing is a big deal, as it determines where, how, and how much a typeface can be utilized. Some libraries, such as Google Fonts, are free to use in any type of project. That’s a safe bet, provided the library has the styles you’re looking for.

Other sources can be more restrictive. For instance, you could find a “free” font that looks like a perfect fit. But you may have to purchase a license to use it in a commercial project.

Still, others have limits based on the amount of traffic to your website. A busy site could mean you pay dearly for access to fonts.

Therefore, it’s worth doing a little research and being comfortable with licensing before you commit to a web font.

Local or Remote Hosting

How a font is implemented is part of its licensing – but also an important consideration in its own right.

The ability to call fonts remotely via an API is highly convenient. It’s not without risk, however. The potential for downtime, privacy concerns, and degraded performance all need to be weighed against the benefits.

Meanwhile, hosting a font locally means a little more work upfront. If the foundry allows it, this will help you avoid some trappings of a remote API. The downside may be an increased load on your web server, so pay mind to file sizes and implement caching when possible.

Each method for implementing fonts has benefits and drawbacks. Think about which is best for your situation.

Accessibility & Legibility

The fonts we choose have a huge impact on accessibility. And we’re not talking solely about persons with disabilities (PWD). A poorly-chosen font can affect every user.

Much of ensuring accessible typography is about using your best judgment. Consider how a font will be used and test to make sure it’s legible on a variety of screen sizes and devices.

The safest choices tend to be basic serif and sans-serif fonts. Script and display fonts might work well enough – but sizing is important. Attempting to use one of these fancy typefaces at a small size or in a long passage of text will make for a poor user experience.

This can be an area where designers and clients may clash. Thus, discussing the importance of accessibility should be at the top of your to-do list.

Making Good Decisions About Web Typography

In some ways, web typography was easier to deal with back when there were just a few browser-safe fonts. Pick one or two that make sense for your project and move on.

Choice makes for harder decisions. But it becomes that much easier when you know what to look for. The considerations above should provide a helping hand.

Understanding a font’s fit with your project’s branding, its licensing, and implementation allows you to significantly narrow down the options. And if a font is a drag on accessibility, don’t be afraid to toss it out of the running.

Like just about everything in design, typography is about making sound decisions. Learn to do that consistently, and you’ll achieve outstanding results.

The post How to Choose the Right Fonts for Your Website appeared first on Speckyboy Design Magazine.