Like a FontSmack to the Forehead - Online Typography Made Easier

The site describes itself as “… a repository of sIFR fonts along with TrueType and PostScript fonts,” but it’s much more than simply a place to hold things.

FontSmack is a collection of freely available typefaces all neatly stuffed into individual Flash files for use in your website through sIFR. It’s like having single-serving delicacies, such as American Cheese or Twinkies™, to treat your guests with when they come to visit, but more “designer” because these treats actually help elevate the look of your site by allowing you to use whatever typeface you need.

The Technology Within

Scalable Inman Flash Replacement, or sIFR to the acronymically adroit, is a technique used to replace HTML text with a javascript-generated Flash file, or SWF, which formats that text in the typeface of your choice. Normally, you’re limited to whatever fonts are installed on your viewer’s computer to render text or you are required to painstakingly develop text as graphics in order to get the look you want. sIFR makes it easier by generating the graphics on the fly, each time your website is opened in your audience’s browser, and all you need to do is set-up a Flash file, plus add in to some javascript and CSS code to your site, and you’re done. The beauty of FontSmack is that all the Flash work has been done for you, using free fonts from reputable online sources (each cited with fonts provided), and has been organized in an easily accessible database. FontSmack even has customizable previews of each typeface to make selecting the right one that much easier.

Keep an eye on FontSmack for new faces which developer Jonathon Snook adds regularly to the site.