Imaging and Typography
Raph Levien's main research interest is in the theory of imaging, that is, rendering pictures and fonts so that they can be displayed electronically. He has written several papers on his research in halftoning technology, which have been implemented in the Gimp-Print free software package, as well as by several commercial implementations.
Dr. Levien created Gill, the Gnome Illustration Application which aimed to support the W3C SVG standard for Vector Graphics. He states it was named after Eric Gill, the English type designer responsible for the Gill Sans, Perpetua and Joanna fonts. Direct development on Gill ceased around the year 2000, but a fork of its code base has evolved to Sodipodi and through it to Inkscape.
In 2009, Levien completed a PhD thesis entitled 'From Spiral to Spline: Optimal Techniques in Interactive Curve Design' and published an essay on the mathematical history of Elastica as a standalone essay. He calls the Elastica "A beautiful family of curves based on beautiful mathematics and a rich and fascinating history."
Since 2010, his work with Google has largely focused on introducing high-quality, open licensed, well organized webfonts to the internet through Google's webfont API. Here, his experience with typographical technology, history and industry has helped to shape the development of this growing resource.
One of his own fonts, Inconsolata (named in 2009 as one of the ten best programming fonts by Hivelogic, and generally known for its clean lines and elegant design) is now available within the Google library.
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