Overview
Font Pairer helps designers and developers explore typography combinations without leaving the browser. Provide a single base font and the tool suggests three complementary pairings, complete with live specimen previews and exportable styles.
Problem
Selecting harmonious typography is time-consuming and often requires deep design expertise. I wanted a faster, more approachable way to present professional pairings—especially for solo builders who wear multiple hats.
Solution
- Semantic prompt engineering taps into Google's Gemini API to return structured font recommendations with rationale.
- Live preview panes render each suggestion using real content, responsive layouts, and accessible contrast checks.
- Export helpers provide CSS variables and Tailwind presets so developers can copy and ship immediately.
- Session caching keeps interactions snappy by reusing recommendations when inputs repeat.
Technical Approach
- Request orchestration: A serverless Edge Function sanitizes inputs, builds the AI prompt, and normalizes the response into a typed schema.
- Typography rendering: Google Fonts are loaded dynamically with graceful fallbacks, and
next/fonthandles performance optimizations. - Accessibility first: Each suggested pairing includes contrast validation, reduced-motion safeguards, and visible focus rings out of the box.
- State management: React Server Components deliver fetch results, while a lightweight client bridge handles preview controls.
Key Learnings
- Accessible typography tooling requires guardrails—contrast checks are non-negotiable.
- AI-generated content benefits from deterministic schemas to avoid edge-case breakage.
- Shipping on the Edge keeps results fast globally, even with AI in the loop.
What's Next
- User-defined palettes for color-aware font suggestions.
- Export directly to Figma styles and Tailwind config files.
- Collaborative mode so teams can iterate on type systems together.