diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index f6cecb4df..4c8125aec 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -44,7 +44,13 @@ all: all_const  all_const_hinted  all_var
 
 all_const: all_otf  all_ttf  all_web
 all_const_hinted: all_ttf_hinted  all_web_hinted
-all_var: $(FONTDIR)/var/Inter-UI.var.woff2
+all_var: \
+	$(FONTDIR)/var/Inter-UI.var.woff2 \
+	$(FONTDIR)/var/Inter-UI-upright.var.woff2 \
+	$(FONTDIR)/var/Inter-UI-italic.var.woff2 \
+	$(FONTDIR)/var/Inter-UI.var.ttf \
+	$(FONTDIR)/var/Inter-UI-upright.var.ttf \
+	$(FONTDIR)/var/Inter-UI-italic.var.ttf
 
 # Disabled. See https://github.com/rsms/inter/issues/75
 # all_var_hinted: $(FONTDIR)/var-hinted/Inter-UI.var.ttf $(FONTDIR)/var-hinted/Inter-UI.var.woff2
@@ -79,8 +85,8 @@ build/%.woff: build/%.ttf
 
 all_ufo_masters = $(Regular_ufo_d) $(Black_ufo_d) $(Italic_ufo_d) $(BlackItalic_ufo_d)
 
-$(FONTDIR)/var/Inter-UI.var.ttf: src/Inter-UI.designspace $(all_ufo_masters)
-	misc/fontbuild compile-var -o $@ src/Inter-UI.designspace
+$(FONTDIR)/var/%.var.ttf: src/%.designspace $(all_ufo_masters)
+	misc/fontbuild compile-var -o $@ $<
 
 $(FONTDIR)/const/Inter-UI-Regular.%: src/Inter-UI.designspace $(Regular_ufo_d)
 	misc/fontbuild compile -o $@ src/Inter-UI-Regular.ufo
@@ -135,7 +141,7 @@ $(FONTDIR)/const-hinted/%.ttf: $(FONTDIR)/const/%.ttf
 # 	ttfautohint --fallback-stem-width=256 --no-info --composites "$<" "$@"
 
 # make sure intermediate TTFs are not gc'd by make
-.PRECIOUS: $(FONTDIR)/const/%.ttf $(FONTDIR)/var/%.ttf
+.PRECIOUS: $(FONTDIR)/const/%.ttf $(FONTDIR)/const-hinted/%.ttf $(FONTDIR)/var/%.var.ttf
 
 # check var
 all_check_var: $(FONTDIR)/var/Inter-UI.var.ttf
@@ -235,7 +241,7 @@ docs_fonts:
 	cp -a $(FONTDIR)/const/*.woff \
 	      $(FONTDIR)/const/*.woff2 \
 	      $(FONTDIR)/const/*.otf \
-	      $(FONTDIR)/var/*.woff2 \
+	      $(FONTDIR)/var/*.* \
 	      docs/font-files/
 
 .PHONY: docs docs_info docs_fonts
diff --git a/misc/dist/variable.txt b/misc/dist/variable.txt
index 78ac81974..c2a3b5cb2 100644
--- a/misc/dist/variable.txt
+++ b/misc/dist/variable.txt
@@ -1,6 +1,15 @@
 
 Variable fonts is a new technology still undergoing development.
 
+The directory named "Inter UI (TTF variable)" contains three files:
+
+- Inter-UI.var.ttf -- multi-axis complete family
+- Inter-UI-italic.var.ttf -- italic-only with variable weight axis.
+- Inter-UI-upright.var.ttf-- upright-only with variable weight axis.
+
+The "Inter UI (web)" directory contains WOFF2 versions of these same
+font files.
+
 Support for variable fonts is limited as of late 2018, but support
 is quickly arriving to web browsers, operating systems and
 design application.
diff --git a/misc/fontbuild b/misc/fontbuild
index 998739f35..d272a7aec 100755
--- a/misc/fontbuild
+++ b/misc/fontbuild
@@ -469,6 +469,47 @@ class Main(object):
     font.save(ufo_path)
 
 
+  def _genSubsetDesignSpace(self, designspace, tag, filename):
+    ds = designspace
+    italic = False
+    if tag == 'italic':
+      italic = True
+    elif tag != 'upright':
+      raise Exception('unexpected tag ' + tag)
+
+    for a in ds.axes:
+      if a.tag == "slnt":
+        ds.axes.remove(a)
+        break
+
+    rmlist = []
+    hasDefault = not italic
+    for source in designspace.sources:
+      isitalic = source.name.find('italic') != -1
+      if italic != isitalic:
+        rmlist.append(source)
+      elif italic and not hasDefault:
+        source.copyLib = True
+        source.copyInfo = True
+        source.copyGroups = True
+        source.copyFeatures = True
+        hasDefault = True
+    for source in rmlist:
+      designspace.sources.remove(source)
+
+    rmlist = []
+    for instance in designspace.instances:
+      isitalic = instance.name.find('italic') != -1
+      if italic != isitalic:
+        rmlist.append(instance)
+    for instance in rmlist:
+      designspace.instances.remove(instance)
+
+    self.log("write %s" % relpath(filename, os.getcwd()))
+    ds.write(filename)
+
+
+
   def cmd_glyphsync(self, argv):
     argparser = argparse.ArgumentParser(
       usage='%(prog)s glyphsync <glyphsfile> [options]',
@@ -557,6 +598,24 @@ class Main(object):
     self.log("write %s" % relpath(designspace_file, os.getcwd()))
     designspace.write(designspace_file)
 
+    # upright designspace
+    upright_designspace_file = pjoin(outdir, 'Inter-UI-upright.designspace')
+    p = Process(
+      target=self._genSubsetDesignSpace,
+      args=(designspace, 'upright', upright_designspace_file)
+    )
+    p.start()
+    procs.append(p)
+
+    # italic designspace
+    italic_designspace_file = pjoin(outdir, 'Inter-UI-italic.designspace')
+    p = Process(
+      target=self._genSubsetDesignSpace,
+      args=(designspace, 'italic', italic_designspace_file)
+    )
+    p.start()
+    procs.append(p)
+
     for p in procs:
       p.join()