Google’s online web font collection is a resource that should be added to any web designers tool belt. Using web fonts that are unique and appealing help to increase your users experience and help with readability and the overall look of the website you are designing. It is also important to note that now a days you are not only developing for the web, but you also have to remember readers using tablets and smart phones.

Readership via a smart device is on the rise and will only become more prevalent in the future. Choosing a font that is easy on the eyes and also appealing visually will really make the design of the site pop and show a level of professionalism that will get you recognized above other designers that choose not to utilize this technique.

The other great aspect to Google Web Fonts is that they are complete free to use in your design as long as it is not a commercial site / store. Other sites like typekit.com allow for monthly subscription based type utilization and this makes it difficult to include their fonts in a project you are building out for a client. You can’t pass on a monthly subscription for fonts used on the site to the client and expect them to be happy. This is the reason I stick with Google’s collection in most of my online projects.

Now not everyone is as enthusiastic about using Google’s Web Font service as I am and here is the reason why, the “quality” of most of the fonts in the collection are not up to par with what you can get in a subscription bases service like typekit. Google is making strides to get higher quality fonts made available, but truthfully there are a few exceptions that are top notch fonts in the collection and should be used when ever possible in your design.

See below to another designers input on the quality.

Cool overview. I’ve largely steered clear of Google Web fonts to date because of the limited selection. Thanks for highlighting the importance of fonts being available to download. That’s not just important when it comes to mocking up a site. Websites are often part of a wider brand, which needs to maintain consistency in printed media as well (letterheads, business cards, etc). It’s really important to be able to have access to fonts both online *and* offline, and licensing issues can make this a pain.

Glad to see that Google Web fonts is slowly extending the range and quality it offers. Although I think there’s a degree to which even Typekit and Web font are (relatively advanced) interim measures until we reach a point in a couple of years where WOFF support is extensive enough to use in enterprise web design. ~ Robin Cannon

On a final thought the idea of the Google Fonts Directory is amazing: offering everyone free fonts, which you can add to your site via a small javascript call, makes perfect sense. The service started out small, offering just 10 fonts in 2010 but has since grown to over 250, showing that Google means business in the web font game and will someday contain thousands of high quality fonts free to the public. Let me know what you favorite fonts from the collection are in the comments and happy fonting.

No related posts.