The 36th Digital Stage Co., Ltd. ~ Introducing "Fontworks Font" to the Web font function of "BiND", a website creation software

Interview

Example of using homepage creation software "BiND for Web LiFE *"

Software that adopts its own block editing, and allows the creator to create a full-fledged HTML-based website without having to acquire web-specific knowledge such as HTML tags. Sites created with BiND guarantee compatibility with major browsers. Received the 2007 Good Design Award “Special Directorate for Small and Medium Enterprises”. In August 2014, we started an online homepage creation service using the cloud.

Introduction of Digital Stage Co., Ltd.

"BiND for Web LiFE * 7" 2007 Good Design Award Winner of Small and Medium Enterprise Agency Director-General's Special Award

Digital Stage is a company that develops software and Event to easily create Flash websites and Web productions.

This time, Mr. Hong and Mr. Nitahara talked about "Fontworks font" adopted in the Web font function installed in the homepage creation software "BiND for WebLiFE*".

ホームページ制作ソフト「BiND for WebLiFE*」は、 簡単にWebフォントを使ったサイトが作れます

Director Yasukazu Hong

"BiND for WebLiFE* (BiND)" is a homepage creation software with the concept that anyone can easily create a homepage site or a smartphone site.

In order to make it easier for non-technical web designers to create homepages, we have adopted our own editing Styles "block editing", which does not edit HTML tags or source code at all. ..

Originally, we prepared templates that assume several situations such as "corporate site" and "online shop", and based on this template, you can easily arrange the site by adding arrangements as you want. It can be produced.

"BiND", which was released in 2007 and has been upgraded with the addition of new features that should be incorporated into the Web industry each time, incorporates the feature that makes it easy to use the Web fonts that are currently attracting attention.

This Web font is a "technology that enables the Web designer to display the font that he or she intended," and it is a function that enables the design and construction of the intended site without depending on the font environment of the viewer. The mechanism is to display various fonts by referencing the font data on the server. Originally, it is a function that requires a separate license contract, but by using "BiND" that our dedicated server can be used, we are preparing an environment where you can comfortably use Web fonts.

Why Web fonts have not become popular in Japan It's definitely better to display pages neatly!

Web font support example

Until now, the only way to show it with the "font intended by the Web designer" was to display it as an image. There are a number of drawbacks to using images, including the appearance of a messy appearance and poor appearance. For example, the text cannot be copied, the font size cannot be adjusted, and the display speed becomes slow due to the large amount of data.

Due to the elimination of these problems, the beautiful design, and the high functionality, the Web font was introduced relatively early in the West, but in fact it was not widely used on Japanese sites.

I think most of the reason for this was the large number of characters used in Japanese. Unlike websites that can be expressed with a small number of characters such as alphabets, Japanese sites have 2,036 characters even if only common kanji such as hiragana, katakana, kanji, etc. I need it. Although this number of characters is not displayed at one time, the large amount of data imposes a burden on the display speed and makes viewers feel stressed. As a result, I think that it has become common to make fonts that are difficult to consider, such as displaying system fonts that have no choice in terms of design.

However, I think that it is definitely good to be displayed beautifully, and with the cooperation of companies that have already started the service of Japanese Web fonts, we have developed a system with even faster display speed within our company. It has been mounted on "BiND". At that time, the font introduced by the company that cooperated was "Fontworks font".

I dare to consider the number of fonts that light users can use.

Example of basic course

The "BiND" Web font that uses this "Fontworks font" is divided into two, "Basic course" for light users and "Premium course" with a higher grade, and the number of typefaces that can be used is different. there is.

Actually, I think that it may be a little hurdle for light users who are not familiar with design to select a typeface according to their purpose.

Premium course example

In addition, from the idea of "providing categorization suitable for Web production" to all users, we have removed the categories of Fontworks such as "Tsukushi typeface" and "Classic" to make fonts and titles easy to use in the Text of the website. We categorized the typefaces according to their purpose, such as fonts that flourish in. If you make a design sample, output it all, and then on the whiteboard, it's like feeling from the user's point of view.

After the categorization, in the "Basic Course", we picked up 7 typefaces that are easy to handle and highly versatile to introduce. Can I use only 7 typefaces? You might think that. However, I don't think there are so many typefaces used on one site, and in the early stages when I'm new to designing, there are so many choices that I'll end up with a disorganized impression. I thought there might be some.

First of all, if you check the usability here and know the fun of expressing with Web fonts and the beauty of appearance, you can use the "Premium Course" that all Fontworks fonts can be used for more design, I think that you can make an elaborate site.

You can select fonts while checking the typeface design.

Designer Yumi Nitahara

Actually, I am also making a model site using "BiND", but since "Fontworks font" has a large variety of fonts, and there are designs and weights suitable for the place I want to use, now I feel that it is fun to produce in terms of design that I could not express.

Unlike the dullness of system fonts and how they look when displayed as images, you can convey the impression of each font as you want it to feel. Also, since the appearance does not collapse, I think that it is a safe factor from the viewpoint of the creator that the appearance looks the same when viewed on Mac and Win.

The panel interface used when selecting fonts has been devised to make it easier to use these rich fonts. In addition to being able to search for fonts by narrowing down the categories and weights, it is possible to intuitively select fonts that confirm the design with a Fonts, unlike the CSS description that is generally used.

Panel used when selecting fonts

This makes it easier to structure your site layout more efficiently. So far, Web designers don't care about typefaces? I was often asked, but I don't mean I didn't care, and I think I wasn't in an environment where I could stick to it.

In this way, "BiND" has the advantage that it is possible to show a well-established typeface with a "clear display" even in the design of paper media without causing stress at the display speed.

Being able to use a beautiful typeface helps to create a beautiful site

It may be that many people have not noticed the advantage of being able to use Web fonts in the industry as a whole now, but the title displayed in the system font looks like a logo. I would like to let many people know that there is something that can change the impression that fonts make.

Therefore, we would like to promote the creation of more beautiful websites using Web fonts, and in the service "BiND Cloud" that uses a cloud that started in August 2014, all users can use Web fonts. We are preparing the environment.

I think that if you can use it in the default state like this, you will naturally be more conscious of the design and will be useful for creating a more envisioned site. Once you have this experience, many people may be dissatisfied with the blurry display made of images.

Consisting of font and image Web site. For the company that develops the production software, I think that being able to provide users with fonts with highly designed Fontworks is an important appeal point in promoting the creation of a beautiful site.

A sample with only the font arranged using a template

< Editor's note >
Anyone can easily Web system that the site can make is, now that the Internet has become indispensable, I think that it is very attractive tool. As part of that appeal, I would like to think about what Fontworks fonts can do in the future.

Company Info

Company name Digital Stage Co., Ltd.
location 2-4-5 Ikejiri, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo
URL http://www.digitalstage.jp

For enrollment in the "LETS" program or purchase of products, please Contact Us your retailer or place an order.
In addition, Digital Stage Co., Ltd., introduced this time, has a different contract from the standard "LETS".

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