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Hermes Docs

Overview

Hermes is a CLI tool that streamlines the use of Google Fonts in web projects by downloading web-optimized WOFF2 font files and generating CSS for seamless integration. It efficiently handles font acquisition, prioritizing variable fonts for versatility and providing fallbacks for individual weights as needed.

Features

  • Efficient Font Downloads: Optimizes the download process by retrieving only the necessary font files in WOFF2 format.

  • Variable Font Support: Prioritizes downloading a single variable font file for efficiency.

  • CSS Integration: Generates CSS code, making it seamless to incorporate the downloaded fonts into your project.

Motivation

The creation of Hermes was driven by the recognition of a common obstacle in web design: the cumbersome process of self hosting web optimized Google Font files. While Google Fonts are a go-to choice for their wide selection and ease of access, obtaining them in web-optimized formats for self-hosting involves navigating through a series of links and API responses. This task can significantly slow down the development process. Hermes addresses this challenge by streamlining the acquisition of fonts in the WOFF2 format, facilitating a more efficient workflow for designers and developers.

Why Self-Host Fonts?

Opting to self-host fonts offers several advantages over relying on third-party CDNs like Google Fonts:

  • Performance: Self-hosting can improve webpage loading times as fonts are downloaded in parallel with other resources from the same server. This approach minimizes DNS lookups and potential delays from external servers.

  • Reliability: Hosting fonts on your own server ensures their availability, reducing dependency on external services that may face downtime or latency issues.

  • Security and Privacy: By eliminating requests to external servers, self-hosting enhances user privacy and reduces the potential for delivering malicious scripts.

  • Customization and Control: Self-hosting allows for detailed control over font loading strategies and caching policies, optimizing performance and ensuring alignment with project design requirements.