subject: Web Designers, Do You Need a New Typeface? No Problem! [print this page] Web Designers, Do You Need a New Typeface? No Problem!
As a web designer, have you ever felt you're restricted by the typefaces available to you? Are you tired of using the same one over and over again?
This may be a complication you've experienced in the past or are experiencing now. However, it is no longer a problem. Typefaces have been expanded and are limitless for your use in web design. This is all thanks to Web Open File Format, also known as WOFF 1.0.
Web Open File Format or WOFF 1.0 is an effort in providing browser-friendly formats for typefaces. In an article provided by Joab Jackson, WOFF 1.0 will make typefaces easily usable on any browser.
For now, WOFF 1.0 is still in its pre-phase of standardization but web designers can still access and use the WOFF codes in their CSS scripts.
For those typefaces that haven't been included into WOFF 1.0 yet, will soon be installed, but as of now, you will find that many typefaces can still be used. Many browsers are currently using WOFF 1.0, and those that aren't, are beginning to install or will soon be installing WOFF 1.0.
Font Shop and FontFont have WOFF fonts available to use now, as well as Font Squirrel and Open Font Library include free WOFF fonts.
In the past, web designers have been limited to what fonts they could use in the web design process because of the dependency on browsers to be able to display them.
Chris Lilley, activity lead of W3C fonts stated, "In print, publishers use lots and lots of fonts all the time. And there is a mechanism for that: They can get a font from a particular client, and use it on their computers, and when designers come to the web, they're in shock when they find they can't do that."
Typically, the standard of fonts accepted on different web browsers have been Times New Roman, Arial, and Verdana.
Currently, WOFF is seeking licensing for support in changing the fonts that are accepted in web browsers.
As far back as 2009, browser companies such as Mozilla, Google, Apple, Opera and Microsoft have taken a liking to WOFF and have started to install and make available support for WOFF features.
WOFF will certainly enable a creative opening for web designers and this change will be a very exciting one in web design.
