Variable fonts

One file containing a continuous design space instead of discrete instances. Powerful and frequently misused — the most common error is reaching for font-variation-settings when a standard CSS property already maps to the axis.

1. When to invoke

• Choosing between a variable font and a set of statics.
• Using weight, width, optical size, slant, or italic axes.
• Axes not responding, or rendering incorrectly.
• Animating or transitioning a typographic axis.
• Auditing whether a variable font is actually paying for itself.

2. Required context