Before web fonts, designers were bound to whatever came bundled with software. For English, the Latin alphabet and commonly used scripts this didn’t pose a major hurdle. But, building a webpage for Farsi readers posed a real problem. Web fonts make it so users don’t need pre-bundled alphabets in order to see a page, browsers download the fonts automatically. Whether it’s a proprietary font in a common alphabet or a more specialized alphabet, web fonts have increased both the communicative power of the internet and its reach. A look at most downloaded fonts reveals the developing world doesn’t just want to build their own internet, they want it to look good.
Web Fonts and the Global Economy