Google takes web fonts to the next level. If you browse the internet you will notice to lack of creative use of typography. Unlike other media, such as print, web design typography is almost always very typical. This isn’t necessarily the fault of the designer, but instead the lack of support across the many different platforms used for rendering websites.

There are a few fonts that virtually all computers have installed on them. These have been coined as web-safe fonts – Arial, Georgia, Times New Roman, and Verdana. When a website tells the browser to render font “Arial”, the browser fetches the font from the local computer and displays it properly. The problem with using custom font faces are that all computers viewing a website may not have the font. Therefore most website are built upon this very limited library of typography. Designers know they’re websites typography will appear correctly when using a web-safe font.

In the past, if a designer wanted to display more unique typography they would have to actually place an image.

The main problem with doing things this way is that search engines like Google cannot index or read image text. Another problem is that fonts can have adaptive sizes and are vector based. If you hold Ctrl and mouse wheel forward, you will zoom your browser in. Notice how the text stays crisp and the image based text gets blurry?

Enter web typography. Web typography is a new way of dishing up the font face. Using this method, when a website tells your browser to render “Arial”, it would provide a link to where Arial could be distributed to the browser. This provides the ability to display all sorts of new typography! The largest problem facing web typography is that open links to fonts allows that font to be downloaded locally. Type designers (or people that create font type faces) would have to give permission for this open source of distribution.

Google Font API in conjunction with the Google Font Directory is making web typography much easier to implement. Those familiar to CSS will find this extremely easy. Google offers a Font Previewer that makes it extremely easy to see what everything will look like. Then you just have to add the small line of code it provides and embed it into your CSS style sheet. The fonts are hosted on Google servers, and everything in the Google Font Directory are open source and free to use. This library will continue to grow as more developers add to it.

Give it a try!

SB¬

Heat Transfer Printing – Learning more from Speedtech…

Heat Transfer Printing is a method of printing imagery to a desired product by use of a preferred temperature of heat directly applied to both the material and sublimation paper. The sublimation paper contains sublimation dyes and inks which upon application of heat are then released into the material.

Heat Transfer printing is an excellent method of printing providing a superior range of printing quality and print longevity. Materials from cotton, to synthetic nylons, and even neoprene, are all conducive materials for this method of print application. Environmentally speaking, Heat Transfer method is an commendable choice as there is no ink to dispose of later. Instead the only waste is the paper sublimation sheet which is biodegradable.

Heat Transfer printing can be done in a few different ways depending upon the size of the production run. Small quantity sized production runs will find platen presses efficient enough although they are more labor intensive and slow. In cases where larger quantity production runs are necessary the production method of Roll Printing is more efficient and cost favorable.

Roll Printing production requires more initial setup investment money and development time which will be regained only on larger production runs. The amount of colors necessary for the printed image will have a direct effect in determining the amount of setup investment and development time. Each color ink used requires its own individual steel cylinder be finished with the desired design. Once all of the necessary steel cylinders have been produced they are then aligned to run in sequence to print the desired image to sublimation paper. To correctly arrange the steel cylinders to effectively print with no registration issues, the printer must compete several test runs. Once everything is in place only then is the production run able to be activated. Later these sublimation paper rolls will be used with rotary drum heat presses to create the desired image on the chosen product.

There are many other print application processes available all of which are determined by quantity, selected design and chosen material. Contact our Global Sourcing department to discuss if using our Speedtech’s sourcing services is the right fit for your business.

Duvall Designs – Logo Identity

DuVall Designs provides a host of services to get your business onto the internet showcasing a professional appearance that pairs with your company image. DuVall Designs offers complete web design services including creating custom websites designed to meet the needs of your business.

DuVall Designs uses the latest technology and applications to successfully integrate advanced features such as Flash 10.1, custom slideshows,  e-commerce solutions, and blog capabilities for inexperienced web users. These features add a level of professionalism to your visitors.

To see additional logos Speedtech has recently designed visit Logo Identity page.