Google Fonts aims to make typography fast, easy, and open. The company met the advent of variable fonts with excitement, but not without reservations. Although variable fonts offer immense potential, they come with new complexities, placing the goal of “easy” somewhat at risk. Simplicity is a particular concern when starting from a user base that is largely unaware of variable fonts. Google now faces the challenge of educating its users and providing tools to interact with multidimensional design spaces without compromising ease of use. Join Nathan Williams and Kim Irin as they recount the journey toward supporting VF on Google Fonts, complete with reflections on both VF engagement and the challenges they have faced along the way—there have been plenty.
Kim Irin is a visual designer in the Google Fonts team, based in New York City. She has focused on developing design systems and visual identities, and has contributed to UX/UI projects such as the Material Design guidelines, the SPAN design and technology conference, and surfacing variable fonts in Google Fonts (fonts.google.com). She recently led a project to add more Korean fonts to the Google Fonts library, and to showcase them she commissioned a website from local design studio Math Practice (googlefonts.github.io/korean) キム・イリンはニューヨークに拠点を置く、グーグルフォントチームのビジュアルデザイナー。彼女はデザインシステムとビジュアルアイデンティティの構築に携わり、またマテリアルデザインガイドライン、SPANデザイン＆テクノロジーカンファレンス等のUX/UIプロジェクトにも貢献し、グーグルフォント（fonts.google.com）を通してバリアブルフォントの世界にも足を踏み入れている。最近ではグーグルフォントに韓国語フォントを追加するプロジェクトに関わり、地元のデザインスタジオであるマス・プラクティスにその見本ウェブサイトの製作を依頼（googlefonts.github.io/korean）。
Speaker
Nathan Williams
Nathan Williams is a Software Engineer on the Google Fonts team. Although he entered the world of fonts and typography only a couple of years ago, his passion for good design has driven him to learn, explore, and contribute. ネイサン・ウィリアムスはグーグルフォントチームのソフトウェアエンジニア。タイポグラフィの世界に入門して2年ほどではあるが、持ち前のデザインへの情熱で学習、探求、貢献を重ねている。