MentalX

Face It!!

If you haven’t heard by now, Webkit is now supporting the @font-face CSS property. There are a variety of opinions on this…some good, some bad. I for one am pretty excited about the addition, and am hoping others soon follow suit (obviously Opera is already there, but Firefox, Camino, and IE (don’t laugh) need to fall in line).

I’d like to address the two biggest issues that most objectors are pointing out:

1. Legal issues with Font usage

There is already an Open Font License (OFL), and several open source fonts available. I am hoping that the addition of the @font-face property will do nothing but perpetuate this area of font development. For the most part fonts are still designed exclusively for print, it’s be a nice change to have a few designed with the web in mind.

2. Many web designers don’t know anything about typography

Excuse me? I have argued in the past that a lack of design knowledge by web designers and lack of tools that allow for precise universal web-based design are the main reason that web design for the most part is boring and hideous. If you want to be a web DESIGNER, you might want to learn a thing or two about design, design history, and typography.

In conclusion, I am in favor of this advance. It will be misused, however, it might finally bring a sense of style and art to the web that is currently non-existent. Rock on, Webkit.