Variable font from serif to sans

Hello,

I had a question that I am not sure if it is possible, but creating a variable font from a serif to a sans serif. If it is possible how would I go about setting it up?

Or monospaced actually would be just as useful

This is possible. You will end up with lost of extra points in the sans as it needs the same number of points as the serif.

what axes do I use to set it up? for a mono space.

It doesn’t matter if it is a monospace or not. There is no registered axis for serifs. So you make your own.

Thanks!

another approach, or an addition to it:Use a corner component where needed, and make those the variable elements

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<Novice alert—More a statement than a question>

Hi Georg (and everyone)

Just picking up from this conversation because I’m trying to get my head around how to make a variable font that morphs from sans-serif to serif. So, the shapes would look somewhat like on the attached image, right? And this would then also involve the use of alternate layers (as seen in the tutorial “Switching shapes”) …

The drawing looks good but you would not need to switch shapes since the structure of nodes is the same in the sans serif and the serif version.

Hi Florian

You mean no alternate layer?

Yes, no Alternate Layers needed.

Oh, interesting! I’ll give it another go then, at the moment the interpolation doesn’t quite work yet. Thank you!

Hi everyone

Picking up the thread again, could I ask for advice on what I am doing wrong here (see Glyphs file)? The interpolation was ok initially, but stopped working as I changed the serifs.

I have tried to fix the issue by copying/pasting paths and by placing the anchor points in exactly the same spots. Yet, there is something I am overlooking.

Thank you for some tips!
V1Neue_Variable_WIP_080822_Troubleshooting.glyphs (29.2 KB)

For the /H, remove the unnecessary handles on the left side of the left stem (in three masters):

Then, in the Black Sans master, ensure the left foot matches the right foot:

For the /P, the start nodes are not the same for the outer path and there is a node missing in the Black Sans master:

Have a look at the following tutorial, it outlines solutions to fixing incorrect start nodes and other compatibility issues:

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Hi Florian

Thank you very much!

Cheers

Pascale