Bastardica is a browser-based foundry for creating “bastard” web fonts by mixing, stretching and squishing multiple OpenType fonts into a single hybrid. The interface lets you choose a base font and one or more mix-in fonts (or upload your own), apply per-font effects like Y-offset and scale, randomize or use advanced controls, preview live, and export normal OpenType/TTF/OTF/WOFF2 files. The generated fonts install and behave like regular fonts because the swap is implemented as contextual ligature substitutions, so they work in browsers, design tools and print as long as ligatures are enabled. Presets, live sampling and a simple/advanced toggle speed experimentation, and every build runs locally in the browser.
Technically, everything runs with Pyodide and fontTools so source fonts are not uploaded, and every mixed font is a derivative work that requires you to check original licenses for commercial use; Bastardica adds no extra conditions and credit is optional. The mixing algorithm uses stride-based replacement across glyph runs, so combining three or more fonts produces predictable intersections (the first font wins on collisions) and using prime-number strides reduces repetition. The project draws inspiration from earlier experimental fonts like Times New Bastard and Easy Pete.
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