Screen typography is at a crossroads right now. On one hand, it is evolving into a beautiful space where print and Web design can finally converge in a world with endless wonder and unicorns. On the other side, however, it is still an inconsistent mess where kerning requires JavaScript hacks and Web font licensing is dodgy at best unless you rent fonts via the likes of Typekit.
The Web continues to grow into a more and more elegant place, and it shows no signs of stopping. Right now though, we still have to work with what little we have. If you’re tight on money and want finer Web fonts than what’s bound to be in the average computer’s system fonts, Google Web Fonts might be your best bet.
There are currently 404 typefaces in the Google Web Fonts directory. Many of them are awful. Very awful. But there are also high-quality gems that certainly deserve a closer look. Beautiful Web Type show off the potential of Google’s free typefaces in all their glory. Trust me: you don’t want to miss this.
The project is maintained by Chad Mazzola, a product designer at thoughtbot with a gorgeous portfolio site. You can keep up with updates on the project via GitHub and Twitter.
From bold serif display typefaces to subtle serif and sans-serif reading faces, there certainly is a lot more to Google’s font directory than Lobster. This site is just one way of making it easier for all of us to take note.
Check out our full Design and Dev channel for more inspiration! Also, you can exclusively view typography articles here.
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