The Power of Custom Fonts
Published: 2023-08-14 03:53:04

As developers, we spend countless hours making our application easy to use and inviting for our users. We do this because we know that visual appeal plays a key role in capturing attention and conveying information effectively. We can make our user interfaces as intuitive as they can be, but not everyone thinks the same, and the possibility of confusion will always remain. For this reason, we add instructions to the page, but users will often want to look past them. Engaging users is hard enough already. We wouldn't want to make it harder on ourselves by making our text dull and monotonous or excessively bright and straining on the eyes. Using the right font can make or break user experience, so first, let's look at how we can use custom fonts in our applications.

When searching for a font to use, make sure to download font files as either a TTF or an OTF file. TTF or TrueType Font and OTF or OpenType Font are two popular font formats, each having its own nuances. TrueType Font was developed by Apple and Microsoft in the late 1980s. They sought to and successfully improved font rendering on screens and printers. TrueType Fonts also include hinting instructions for better legibility at small sizes. TTF fonts, however, only offer basic typographic features, character sets, and kerning pairs as its designers were primarily focused on maintaining legibility across different devices.

OTF fonts emerged in the late 1990s as an extension of the TrueType format, co-developed by Microsoft and Adobe. They excel in advanced typography with features like ligatures, contextual alternates, stylistic sets, and glyph variants. OTF fonts provide greater creative control over design and aesthetics. You can choose whichever best suites your needs and implement either font of these font files in our application easily using the CSS @font-face rule. Here's an example.

```
@font-face {
  font-family: "yourFontNameHere";
  src: url("path/to/yourCustomFont.otf") format("opentype");
  font-weight: normal;
  font-style: normal;
```

Font-family defines the name you will use to reference your font so pick a good name. Next, the src defines the path to your custom font's file. Notice in the example that the file path ends at an OFT or OpenType File. The following format specifies your font's file type so "opentype" is the appropriate input. If you are using a TTF or TrueType File, then you must specify that, inputting "truetype" into the format. You can also set the font style and weight here if you would like. Now, to use your font, all that is needed is to set your font name as an element's font-family and it will inherit your custom font!

But what if I can't find a font that suits my needs? In today's competitive market, branding is paramount. Custom fonts serve as powerful tools in establishing and reinforcing brand identity. Whether it's the elegance of luxury brands or the playfulness of children's products, custom fonts help convey messages beyond the words they spell. Luckily there are several technologies currently available that make creating custom fonts fast and easy.

Those who are looking for a free and easy way to create their own custom fonts should try out Calligraphr. Calligraphr uses artificial intelligence to automatically create fonts from pictures of lettering. After you sign up, you can start by creating a template and selecting the characters that you would like to create. Next, Calligraphr sends you your template, which you can either print and draw on physically or import into a graphic design software such as Adobe Illustrator to be drawn digitally. Once you are finished, you can upload an image of your template to Calligraphr which will automatically create your font which you can download both as an OTF file or a TTF file should you like. 

Another powerful software for creating fonts is Fontself.  Font-self is an extension built on top of Adobe Illustrator that uses artificial intelligence to create fonts automatically inside of your projects. Adobe has a plethora of versatile tools to help you create clean and beautiful characters. Once you've perfected your characters, you can simply drag and drop them into the Fontself side panel. Click the smart button to automatically center the characters so there won't be any spacing issues. Finally, press install and your custom font is ready to be used as live text!

Now that you know the importance of attractive text, how to create your own custom font, and how to use them in your projects. With these new tools in your belt, go out, make something new and see what these tools can do for you!


Reference
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8rEzpeNCGk&t=681s
https://www.calligraphr.com/en/docs/tutorial1/
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/@font-face
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5O4bIAzbebI
https://fontforge.org/docs/
https://www.schoolofmotion.com/blog/custom-font-illustrator-fontforge#:~:text=To%20begin%20importing%20your%20letters,you're%20looking%20for%20quickly.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8rEzpeNCGk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pc1euDRYBH8