Google Fonts: How to Use Google Web Fonts (Part Two)
The Google Fonts website is incredibly easy to use, which makes their range of fonts very accessible for people working at any level of web design. In part two of our series on Google Fonts, we look at how to use and install Google Fonts on your website. If you missed Part One, on what are Google Fonts, go check it out.
Browsing and creating a Collection
You can begin by either browsing the selection of fonts until you find one you like, or if you’re looking for a particular font, you can use the search function. Whenever you see a font you like, you can add it to your Collection, so you are effectively bookmarking it. This is a very useful function if you want to use the same fonts consistently on a website, in order to create a distinctive theme for a business or brand.
Reviewing your choices
Once you’ve added a few fonts to your Collection, you can check them out side by side by clicking Review at the bottom of the page. You can even see your text in a dynamic sample layout, so you can get an idea of what the text you’re going to use this font for will actually look like on your web page. There is plenty of room for trial and error on Google Fonts, so there’s no need to try things out in public on your website as you can get a feel for how your font will look straight away.
Implementing your favourite fonts
When you’ve decided which fonts you want to use on your website, it’s easy to implement them. After selecting from choices such as bold and italics and various character sets you might requite, Google gives you a code for your Collection, which you copy and paste into your website’s html. There are different options depending on which type of code you prefer to use, such as standard html, CSS or JavaScript. Google provides plenty of tips and guidance along the way, so the Google Fonts website is easy to use for beginners as much as experts.
Google Fonts has changed over the years, with Google making technical changes and improvements based on user feedback, and they even changed the name of the site from Google Web Fonts to the more simple Google Fonts. Due to these changes, you may find some online tutorials inaccurate, and in fact the best way to get to grips with Google Fonts is simply to explore and enjoy playing around with the fonts and tools on offer.
For more ideas on web design and tips on finding the perfect font for your website, get in touch with iFactory. To find out more about Google Fonts, keep an eye out for the rest of the articles in this series.
