$ show paper-design/paper-mono
This repository contains the source and build pipeline for the Paper Mono monospace typeface, a derivative of Geist Mono. It uses GlyphsApp (.glyphspackage) as the primary design source and a standardized Google Fonts workflow (gftools builder) to generate static OTF/TTF and variable fonts, including WOFF2 web fonts. The project features extensive coding ligatures, box drawing characters, keyboard symbols, and stylistic alternates, targeting developers and designers. The build system is driven by a Makefile with targets for building, testing (via fontspector), and proof generation, all orchestrated via GitHub Actions CI. While the font design itself is the product, the build infrastructure (scripts/read-config.py, scripts/customize.py, Makefile) is well-structured and follows reusable patterns from the Google Fonts project template. The codebase is actively maintained, with pinned dependencies and a functional QA pipeline, though some fontspector failures indicate incomplete metadata and outline quality issues.
The LLM identified 3 files worth highlighting for reuse:
A self-contained Python script that reads sources/config.yaml and outputs variables for the Makefile. It has no external dependencies and can be reused in any project that needs to parse YAML before the Python virtual environment is ready. Demonstrates a clean pattern for decoupling build configuration from shell scripts.
A post-clone script that renames template references (e.g., Google Fonts URL, family name) in a fresh clone of the Google Fonts project template. It is fully parameterized and can be extracted and adapted for any font project using the same template, reducing manual setup errors.
The Makefile defines a reusable build pipeline for Google Fonts projects: building static and variable fonts via gftools builder, running fontspector QA tests, generating proof images with diffenator2, and creating documentation images with DrawBot. It is self-documenting and can be adopted by any font family following the same toolchain.