ConfPad

Now is the perfect time to push typography to new extremes in weight, width, and size. Growing support for variable fonts and color fonts are broadening the range of things we can do with type, while CSS grid and viewport units are giving web designers unprecedented control over how text integrates into a layout. This presentation examines what happens to typefaces at these extremes, when the rules of letter-drawing begin to break down. I will show some historical examples of extreme designs, but will focus on exemplary contemporary designs with extra bold, extra condensed, and extra wide variants. I will also discuss the design process of my typeface Fit, designed expressly to fill as much space as possible, as well as some of the experimental variable and color fonts I have made as part of my Font of the Month Club.