Google Fonts lets developers search for a custom typeface and then, using CSS or JavaScript, add it to their own Web projects.
After its launch in 2010, the service gained immense popularity, prompting Adobe to launch a similar service, called Adobe Edge Web Fonts, two years later.
While useful thanks to its scope, Google's Fonts service as an "application" is quite annoying to work with, mainly due to its poor discovery interface and the fact that users sometimes need to open multiple windows when wanting to compare, preview and use fonts.
Here is where Thomas Park comes in, a developer who previously created successful services like Bootswatch, a repository of Bootstrap themes, and GlyphSearch, a search tool for icon fonts.
Mr. Park has developed FontCDN, a website that leverages the Google Fonts API, where he transforms working with the Google Fonts service into a one-page experience, with a clearer interface and a simpler way of getting the font embed codes.
Google Fonts was confusing, so Thomas Park made something better
As Mr. Park notes, "while Google Fonts is a valuable tool, its interface leaves much to be desired."
"The Google Fonts interface is peppered with buttons, many unlabelled, that always give me a half-second pause. 'Which one do I click to start using the font?'" he continues.
For these reasons he created FontCDN, a Web service that simplifies searching through Google's huge free Web font database, with lots of filters ranging from font category to community-based suggestions.
There are also options included to change the preview modes and the font size, along with sorting controls to order the fonts based on their style, name, date, or popularity.
Following his dedication to simplicity, clicking on a font means that you want to use it for your project, an action that brings up a popup where the font family styles can be selected, and the embed codes copied to your code.