What is a variable font?

One file instead of many

A normal font family comes as a separate file for every style: Light, Regular, Bold and so on. A variable font puts them into a single file and adds a slider between them. Instead of choosing Light or Regular, you can choose anything in between, for example weight 350.

The slider is called an axis. Variable fonts can have several (width, slant, optical size). All our variable fonts have one axis: weight.

Which of ours are variable

What it is good for

• Websites: one file covers every weight on the page, so there are fewer requests than loading four or five separate files.
• Fine tuning: a headline that is a little too heavy at 700 can be 640. A heading and its body text can sit exactly one step apart.
• Animation: weight can change smoothly on hover or on scroll.

On the web it is one line of CSS: font-weight: 640;

What to know before buying

• Variable fonts come as a TTF file. The family pack with the separate styles comes as OTF.
• The variable file is its own item on the font page, next to the family pack. You can buy either or both.
• Most current design apps support variable fonts. Some older software only shows the named styles, so the static files are the safer choice for print workflows with older tools.