Variable fonts with non-conventional axes

[Jono-CES]

Hi everyone. I'm designing an art book for a client that is linked to an exhibition that centres around themes of change and resistance to polar norms and categorisations. One of the ways I'm looking to bring this concept into the typgraphy is through the use of variable fonts. I've used scripts in InDesign to vary the weight axes of a couple variabe fonts through the book but one of the group of people commissioning me is dyslexic and finds the variation from light to bold very difficult to read. I've experimented with varying the width but I find wide fonts aren't particularly suitable for body copy and quickly look ugly and distracting.

So, this brings me to investigating fonts which have variable axes beyond weight and width. I found Varianz, which I love and fits perfectly with the resistance to categorisation concept as its axes change it from sans serif to serif, but unfortunately the group just doesn't like it. I'm still fighting Varianz's corner and asking them to put concept above personal preference, but I'm also going to look for other fonts that have interesting axes that aren't weight and width.

I've scoured Nick Sherman's amazing www.v-fonts.com and there are some great options there, but all I've found apart from Varianz are out of budget. I should add that the client is a not-for-profit gallery/charity and their budget, once print costs are paid for, is very modest so this will come out of my fee, so I'd ideally like to keep it to less than £100.

Does anyone know of something that might fit the bill? Are there any other resources that I should know about?

Thanks

[Riccardo Sartori]

First one that comes to mind would be Recursive.

As a text typeface, the latest version of Literata has an optical size axis other than a weight one.

Considering the budget, you can start checking the offerings from Google Fonts (if you find a design you like, I would suggest to seek the fonts on the foundries’ websites, because they may offer more features than the version on Google Fonts).

Other showcase websites akin v-fonts.com include Axis Praxis and very able fonts.

[Jono-CES]

Thanks Riccardo, Literata is a really good option as the optical size axis could be quite a subtle effect. Very able fonts has some interesting options too. Also, your tip about looking on the foundries' site for fonts found on Google Fonts was a great one, Piazzolla is available from the foundry with optical size as an axis which is not available on the Google Font version. Thanks for your suggestions