In the weeks after the OpenType 1.8 announcement about variable fonts at ATypI 2016, despite explanatory texts and videos there was no environment for enthusiasts and font-makers to experience variable fonts in practice. The following month, Laurence’s Axis-Praxis website fulfilled the need for such a place, somewhere to experiment with your own fonts and to play with fonts that others had released. The site has developed into a resource for fonts, user interfaces, ideas about the future of variable fonts, and reminders of similar activity in font technology a generation ago. Laurence will talk about what he’s learned so far, and will present Axis-Praxis Version 2.

Laurence Penney
Principal, LORP.ORG (Bristol, UK)
Laurence Penney is a consultant in font technology based in Bristol, UK. Focussed on dynamic type tech, he specialized in TrueType: coding rasterizers, hinting fonts, and training others how to hint fonts. He later took on the challenge of creating MyFonts, the open platform selling fonts from all foundries, part…