Best practices for multi-script families

Tofu Type Foundry
Tofu Type Foundry Posts: 73
in Type Design Technique & Theory
Is it recommended to separate font families by script? I see some multi-script families choose to split into different fonts per script (Futura Latin, Futura Cyrillic, Futura Georgian) and other times everything is under one umbrella (Futura, which supports Latin, Cyrillic, and Georgian in the same package). I’m guessing the difference in vertical metrics of certain scripts is a leading reason behind splitting families. Alongside file size for web fonts, perhaps?

For those that do create separate families, do you include other script’s characters in that font? Example: Does Futura Arabic only contain Arabic characters? To type an English word would you need Futura Latin? Or are there some common characters that all scripts will include, such as a basic ASCII character set?

[I’m not actually discussing Futura, just using it as a generic typeface name]
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Comments

  • Nick Shinn
    Nick Shinn Posts: 2,339
    edited 4:55AM
    I recommend putting Latin, Cyrillic and Greek in the same font, on the principle that it’s easier for foundry, reseller (if any) and customer to manage and negotiate.
    I did once split up a family by script, but the proliferation of files was daunting. Others might find it easier.

    However, if there is a particular non-Latin language/script market that you are targeting, that might merit a single-script format for it.

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