HTML5 ARTICLE

May 18, 2015

Monotype Unveils Web Font Platform


The use of fonts is not something that most people think about when they are using the Internet. Fonts are an element of Web browsing that are just always there. For advertisement teams and website designers, however, a quality selection of fonts is a top priority.

A basic change of font type can turn a drab-looking ad into an exciting one, and Monotype, a major provider of typefaces for commercial applications, knows this very well. It recently announced the launch of its new Web font platform that will give HTML5 users and content developers easy access to its library of 100,000 fonts. This can be essential for the creation of custom Web pages and advertising campaigns that can appear in HTML5-driven locations.

Buzz Wiggins, the co-founder and CEO of Adcade, provides his opinion of the new platform in a quote on the Monotype website.

“With the death of Flash came the broken process of working with Web fonts, a common frustration for designers who responded by creating ineffective workarounds,” Wiggins began.

“The Monotype Web Font Platform puts the power back in designers’ hands by offering a super simple way to use Web fonts – providing the creative freedom and flexibility that designers and brands need to run a dynamic and personalized campaign anywhere, anytime,” he continued.

Monotype points out that there is the option for designers to use the Web font platform API for their own application and for designers to extend font usage to their users. When creating Web apps, developers will have the power of the API to make their designs look exactly how they want. Users can then try and publish from the collection of fonts from within the app to which they are already logged on.

The API is meant to work quickly so there is no lag between loading an ad, app, or Web page and the loading of fonts. It is advanced enough to load only the characters necessary for individual ads so there is no overhead regarding typefaces and characters that will not be used in those instances.

This could lead to a host of HTML5-driven ads that are backed by more creative designs than were possible before. Monotype is trying to fill a gap in the advertising space that has been empty since the first days of the latest HTML version. Now, the native Web should be able to serve the vision of developers without relying on third-party plugins such as Flash to get those jobs done.




Edited by Dominick Sorrentino





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