Hi there
I’m working on a Serif where i would like to have both a Display(for headlines) and a Text (optimized for smaller copy). Right now i’ve just created two sets of masters(Thin & Black Display + Thin & Black Text) and set an Axes called “Optical size”. The good thing about keeping them in the same glyphs-file is that i can keep it as a variable font.
But what is the best practise when exporting it as non-variable?
Is it ok to have the “Family name” and “Style name” likes this:
Fontname Serif — Thin Text
Fontname Serif — Thin Display
Fontname Serif — Regular Text
Fontname Serif — Regular Display
Fontname Serif — Bold Text
Fontname Serif — Bold Display (Family name — Style name)
etc. or should it rather be:
Fontname Serif Text — Thin
Fontname Serif Text — Regular
Fontname Serif Text — Bold
Fontname Serif Display — Thin
Fontname Serif Display — Regular
Fontname Serif Display — Bold (Family name — Style name)
There is no one correct answer. Personally, I prefer optical sizes split into separate families, but keeping them all in the same family would work as well.
Thanks for the reply.
Ok, if i split it up into separate families, would i then have to split the glyph-file up into two? or is there a way to tag it as some kind of subfamily or? Because it would be easier to develop in one file, but also so the variable still work
How do you mean, split into different files? In order to have separate family names? This is not necessary.
For the static instances, you can add a parameter (in the “General” section of the instance) called Localized Family Name, where you add the name of the family. Bonus: you can add another parameter called Variable Style Name to make the style name appear as Display Regular when exporting as a variable font.
Just a side note: for the variable font, consider putting Optical Size axis first, and then naming the instances as following, to have a nicer menu organization:
Fontname Serif — Text Thin
Fontname Serif — Text Regular
Fontname Serif — Display Thin
Fontname Serif — Display Regular
