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A comment on Recursive, a free variable font for code and UI, now on Google Fonts. Parent comment

Re:Recursive, a free variable font for code and UI, now on G... by Klathmon on Thursday July 23, 2020 @02:10PM (#23930337)
They offer web optimized versions. The full variable font in woff2 comes in at 523kb, and then there are subsets available from there (reduced character set, reduced customizability), and you can even build your own font with only what is needed.
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Re:Recursive, a free variable font for code and UI, now on G... by seanwilson on Thursday July 23, 2020 @02:22PM (#23930473)
Are variable fonts supposed to have a smaller file size? The examples I've looked at have been bigger than including all the variations you'd expect to use of the non-variable version. Are there examples of a significant file size saving?

Generally with web design, you want to stick to a small number of font weights anyway so if the file size isn't smaller, what's the core motivation?

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Re:Recursive, a free variable font for code and UI, now on G... by rememberlenny on Thursday July 23, 2020 @02:40PM (#23930702)
It depends. The font rendering process is based around "masters" which can vary in count. One font could have one master for all the weights, or multiple masters - for the bold/normal/light. Depending on the master count, the size can differ.

The key thing also is the number of web requests. This is not a trivial detail. One variable font can be less web requests.

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Re:Recursive, a free variable font for code and UI, now on G... by seanwilson on Thursday July 23, 2020 @02:49PM (#23930835)
> The key thing also is the number of web requests. This is not a trivial detail. One variable font can be less web requests.

Is the number of web requests a factor if you're using HTTP/2 though?

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