google / google/fonts

handling derived fonts

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Description

### DERIVED FONTS ARE ANNOYING
**_(AND OTHER OBSERVATIONS)_**

Google fonts is now overrun with derived font faces with different names, where the Latin version of the font is substantially identical. This is both cumbersome and annoying.

What we need Is a way to filter out all the derived fonts. All of these derived fonts have Latin included — But we don't need all of the derived versions which only differ substantially in terms of some very specific encoding such as for Thai.

We really need a checkbox that disregards all derived fonts when the master Latin font is available. OR change the naming policy so that all derived fonts must be named starting with the name of the original font.

For instance, if the original font is Lobster, and then somebody in the BotswanaVille creates an awesome BotswanaVillian set of glyphs and encoding, then the font name would still have to start with Lobster, as in:

### _Lobster BotswanaVille_

The comment I've run into on these derived fonts is along the lines of _"Well we created a bunch of glyphs so we decided it to make this a brand-new family name."_ But that's hogwash. It was a **derived** font, it needs to be named at least the start of the name of the original font that it was derived from.

Now, a highly stylized font like Lobster makes it very obvious that it is the exact same font with just some additional encodings added. The real problem are the many fonts that are derived that are identical but have more subtle design features. This results in them getting selected, downloaded, and used, and then the realization comes that font B and C are just a derivative of A.

And you have no tracking of this. The only way to find out that something is derived is to read the details deep within some of the font information on the website, but it's not listed there with the samples, not shown on the list of checkboxes when you try to customize your download, not shown anywhere or with any way to deselect the many redundant yet differently named derivatives.

## So please:
**1. Name all derived versions based on the original
2. Provide a means to hide all derived versions.**

Thank you

Andy

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