In 2018 I opened my own type foundry (ETC) with two variable typefaces: Anybody, and Grandstander. Over a the catalog evolved into seven families and started to gain attention. Google Fonts approached me to work together and open source my work. They’re now used millions of times a day.
In the past year Epilogue has received almost 860+ million views on Google Fonts. Had I kept my ETC work a commercial endeavor, I would never have reached that number for a new typeface in my whole lifetime (it’s just a number, I know, but still, it boggles the mind. GF stats are public and fascinating). Google’s commission also enabled me to expand some of these typefaces to wider language support, and gave me time to create Sono (not one of the original seven families).
I love making type. It’s a lot of work, and not always profitable. I’d release everything I make with an open source license if I could earn a living doing so. Google Fonts made that possible for a little while, and I’m forever grateful.
If you use Figma, these variable fonts are already installed and ready to use. Here’s a file I made for you to play around with.