LONDON, Dec. 21, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Google and the Ubuntu project have today released the Ubuntu Font Family to the world through the Google Font Directory. Through the magic of the Google Font API any web designer can now pick Ubuntu from the Google Font Directory and bring the beauty and legibility of the Ubuntu fonts to their web properties.
Using Ubuntu as a web font means that visitors will always see the text and fonts as intended, when viewing in a web browser such as Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Opera or Safari-even if the font is not installed on the visitor’s computer. The new Ubuntu Font Family debuted in the current Ubuntu 10.10 release of the Ubuntu operating system and is also available for download from font.ubuntu.com.
The Ubuntu Font Family are a set of new fonts in development throughout 2010-2011. The development is being funded by Canonical Ltd on behalf the wider Free Software community and the Ubuntu project, with the skilled font work being undertaken by Dalton Maag. Like everything else in Ubuntu, the fonts are free to use and legal to share, sell, bundle and build upon. The included "source code" allows remixing, improvement and expansion by anyone with the skills or an interest. This release includes Latin, Cyrillic and Greek support, and future versions will be automatically rolled out to everyone using the Google Font API. The main www.ubuntu.com site features the fonts from today.
Mark Shuttleworth, founder of the Ubuntu project, commented: "Our focus on design and usability in Ubuntu led us to create a font which is at once beautiful and readable. We're delighted to share the Ubuntu Font Family with web designers around the world who want their websites to be stylish and readable in as many languages and browsers as possible. The publication of the Ubuntu font on the global Google Font Directory is an appropriate treat for the festive season, and we wish all those who contribute to, and enjoy the benefits of, free software and open content a very happy and healthy solstice and New Year."
Bruno Maag of the Dalton Maag type foundry, who have been working with Canonical on the design and technical implementation of the typeface commented, "It is unique in our company’s history to work on such a comprehensive high-quality font and to have it given to the World to use for free. The creativity and expertise that is available in the open source world, in particular the insight into language and script requirements, ensures that the fonts are a useful tool for everyone. The right font used correctly can increase accessibility to information and increase productivity. With today’s gift, we expect to see widespread adoption of the Ubuntu fonts from today, as it combines design at its best with simple distribution through the Google Font API."
Raph Levien from the Google Font API team added, "Google is excited to be providing such a high-quality font to the world, with all of the benefits of web fonts including amazing searchability and accessibility. Web fonts demonstrate the true power of the web, as web pages can be translated and still preserve a rich visual presentation - something not possible with any other technology, especially baking text into images. As the language coverage increases throughout 2011, users will automatically get those improvements, and the performance and reliability they can expect from Google. I hope that people have fun over the holidays adding the Ubuntu web fonts to their sites!"
How to add the Ubuntu Font Family:
http://code.google.com/webfonts (Select "Ubuntu" and insert the two lines of CSS provided)
http://font.ubuntu.com/ (Complete open-source font download).
Notes for editors:
About Google Font API and Font Directory: The Google Font API serves over 30 million font views for web pages per day. The Google Web Fonts Team is establishing a core set of web fonts and simple to use technology that can be used openly across devices and platforms. Using a Google web font is as simple selecting it from the directory and copying a few lines into a web page. Visit: code.google.com/webfonts
About Canonical Ltd: Canonical provides engineering, online and professional services to Ubuntu partners and customers worldwide. As the company behind the Ubuntu project, Canonical is committed to the production and support of Ubuntu - an ever-popular and fast-growing open-source operating system. It aims to ensure that Ubuntu is available to every organisation and individual on servers, desktops, laptops and netbooks.
Canonical partners with computer hardware manufacturers to certify Ubuntu, provides migration, deployment, support and training services to businesses, and offers online services direct to end users. Canonical also builds and maintains collaborative, open-source development tools to ensure that organisations and individuals can participate fully in innovations within the open-source community. For more information, please visit www.canonical.com
About Dalton Maag: Dalton Maag is one of the world’s most notable contemporary font foundries, specialising in custom and corporate typefaces for companies such as Canonical, BMW, Vodafone, Bang & Olufsen and Virgin Galactic. Over their careers, Dalton Maag’s staff have been responsible for some of the most world’s most recognisable digital fonts. Designers include Ron Carpenter who worked for many years at Monotype, and Vincent Connare who designed Comic Sans during his time at Microsoft. Visit: www.daltonmaag.com