The Professional Practice of Type Designers in the Design of Variable Fonts

Abstract

The insertion of technologies in the professional practice of design has provided new areas of activity. The fields that support the professional design practice are different, such as typography, responsible for transmitting written messages and creating typefaces. The typographic scope was also boosted by computerization and digital tools. As a result, font formats began to be developed to allow greater flexibility and the use of typefaces in digital media, such as variable fonts. This format consists of a technology where different widths, weights, slopes, and many variations are incorporated into a single file. There are a lot of ads about variable fonts. However, studies that point out their development processes are still scarce and fragmented. In this perspective, this study aimed to identify indicators and components of the design process of variable fonts. For this purpose, a prospective qualitative investigation was carried out based on the application of questionnaires and interviews with type designers and specialists from different locations and experiences. As a result, it was possible to identify, distinguish and characterize specific components and procedures of the production process of the variable fonts, such as carrying out tests and verifications, structuring the design space, the relevance of adopting a flow for the process, and defining the context of the use of fonts and the contribution of external agents to the type designer in the production of variable fonts.