Google Web Fonts
April 4, 2012Google is not only a great resource to kick off searches, but it’s also a great resource for web designers and developers alike. Today, we’re going to look at Google Web Fonts – free open-source fonts optimized for the web! Google says this about their Web Fonts:
“Our goals are to create a directory of core web fonts for the world and to provide an API service so that anyone can bring quality typography to their webpages. The API service runs on Google’s servers. They are fast, reliable and tested. Google provides the service free of charge. It is possible to add Google Web Fonts to a website in seconds.”
Show Me Some Examples
Why Should I Use It?
Why not? It’s free, it doesn’t require you to download anything, nor does it require resources or bandwidth from your website. Your web administrator will love you for that – and from a web design standpoint, who doesn’t like a centralized web font standard? Google’s Web Font Collection is continually growing, and even allows you to upload your own fonts!
How Do I Use It?
First, go check out the Google Web Fonts, Pick a font-family you want to use and insert the font name into the imported stylesheet declaration:
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="http://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Font+Name">
Then declare the font in your css:
body {font-family: 'Font+Name';}
Here’s the official Usage Guidelines to using Google’s Web Fonts.