Crazy for Fonts
One of the most frustrating things about building websites is the limitation the medium imposes on the use of fonts. Until the technology is developed that allows sites to deliver fonts along with their content, we're limited to just a handful of typefaces that are likely to be installed on most users' machines. We can always be more creative with image-based text, but that brings its own set of problems in the areas of download time and accessibility.
This situation is exacerbated when one has a love affair with fonts, and I suspect that most designers in all text-centric media fall into that category. Even if I can't (1) afford or (2) use all the fonts I like, I still enjoy finding new sources and new designs. The best one-stop-shopping resource I've found for doing this is MyFonts.com, and their monthly newsletter is an excellent example of how to use email to generate sales (or, at least, lust for products!).
The latest edition of "In Your Face" goes a step further by introducing 18 new foundries whose fonts the website is now peddling. If you're a font freak but haven't yet subscribed to the free MyFont.com newsletter, I recommend doing so. But keep a tight grip on your credit card!
"Until the technology is developed that allows sites to deliver fonts along with their content, we're limited to just a handful of typefaces that are likely to be installed on most users' machines."
That's a double-edged sword, Eric. It could, conceivably, open the door to a whole new kind of hacking. Like you, I'm a bit of a font junkie. Over the years, I've downloaded, well, a lot of fonts. One troubling thing I've noticed is that some font designers build fonts with an executable (.exe) buried in what appears to Windows as a font file (.ttf). I once made the mistake of clicking on one of those "bad fonts" from a "free source". It installed a hidden running process that had to be disabled from a DOS window. "Control+Alt+Delete" had no effect and even the Visual C++ process viewer (PView 4) couldn't take it out. Then there's other fonts whose executables make registry entries, usually for the benign purpose of giving credit to its creator. Needless to say, that's something that could be abused as well.
By the by, I'm sure you've already heard of them, but just in case you haven't www.dafont.com/en/ has an incredible selection of freebie fonts, nearly every one available for Mac as well.
Posted by: Mr. Freen at December 3, 2004 04:52 PMPaul, my pleasure...just don't hold me accountable for any damage done to your pocketbook on that site! ;-)
Mr. Freen, your point is a good one, although the font-delivery technology that develops is likely not to deliver the actual font itself but some kind of outline or proxy (I'm unsure of the correct term). It's important that the visitor not have to install anything in order to view the site as designed, so it must be something that the browser can interpret in a seamless fashion. This should reduce or eliminate the malware delivery issue.
I'll have to check out dafont.com; I don't think I've heard of it before. Thanks!
Posted by: Eric at December 3, 2004 05:12 PMAbout the publisher
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Thanks, Eric, for the great font tip. I am a font-aholic ... thousands of them and still use Arial most of the time. I just bought the Sam Houston font a few weeks back as I'm going to use it as a powerpoint background for a historical lecture. Thanks again for the tip.
Posted by: The Parson at December 3, 2004 04:49 PM