Type Classification

SE R I F

Aa Aa Aa Aa Baskerville
Garamond

Rockwell
Bodoni
Old Style or Humanist Transitional Modern Egyptian or Slab
serif typefaces developed in serif typefaces have sharper The typefaces designed by Numerous bold and decorative
the 15th and 16th centuries serifs and more vertical axis Giambatista Bodoni in the typefaces were invented in
and are characterized by a low than humanist letters. When eighteenth and early nineteenth the Industrial Revolution for
contrast in stroke weight and the fonts of John Baskerville centuries are radically abstract. advertising purposes.
angled serifs.Pictured here is were introduced in the mid- Note the sharp contrast from
Garamond typeface designed by eighteenth, their sharp forms thick to thin strokes.
Claude Garamond in the 16th and high contrast were
century. considered shocking.

Other Type
classifications include:
A basic system for classifying typefaces was devised in the nineteenth
century, when printers sought to identify a heritage for their own craft. Calligraphic/Script
HUMANIST letterforms are closely connected to calligraphy and the Pixel/Bitmap Fonts
movement of the hand. TRANSITIONAL and MODERN are more Decorative/Novelty
abstract and less organic. These three main groups roughly correspond
to the Renaissance, Baroque and Enlightenment in art and literature.
Historians and critics of typography have since more finely tuned
Aa- caligraphic
classification. Contemporary designers continue to create new typefaces
based on these historic characteristics.
Aa- bitmap

Aa- decorative
SANS SERIF

Aa Aa Aa
Helvetica
Gill Sans

Futura

Humanist Sans Serif Transitional Sans Serif

Sans-serif typefaces became
Geometric Sans Serif
Helvetica, designed by Max Some sans-serifs are built
common in the twentieth Miedinger in 1957, is on of around geometric forms.
century. Gill Sans, designed by the world’s most widely used Futura, designed by Paul
Eric Gill in 1928 , has humanist typefaces. It’s uniform, upright Renner in 1927, the Os are
characteristics. Note the small character makes it similar to perfect circles and the A and
lilting counter in the letter a, transitional serif letters. These M are sharp triangles.
and the calligraphic variations fonts are also referred to as
in line weight. “anonymous sans serif.”
Type Terminology

Typography Hierarchy
The study and classifictation of typefaces. In typography and graphic design this refers to
the size and importance of the type or image in a
Typeface/Type design. The largest is the most important point, the
The term refes to the complete set of designed smallest is supporting content.
letters in an alphabet.
Headline
Fonts In type, the headline is the large type usually 18pts
The physical files in your computer that displays or larger within the layout or website.
the typeface on your computer screen.
3 types: Open Type, True Type and Postscript Subhead
The supporting type under the headline, which gives
Type Families a brief explination of the headline.
Within any single typeface there may be several
weights or variations within the typeface, known Display Type
as a family. Black, Bold, Oblique, Light, Italic, Ultra Large type, often used as a headline or may be used
light, for example, may all be variations within one as the central image of a layout, for example in an
typeface. editorial feature.

Kerning Body (Body text)

The physical act of adjusting the space between The main content in a document, story or site,
letters in a word. Fonts use a preset spacing in formatted in paragraphs. (Usually 8pt-12pt type)
software. Designers often have to adjust the
spacing of letters, as it looks awkward. Columns
The rows of type that arrange the body within a
Tracking given layout whether print or web.
Also refered to as letter-spacing. Is the measured
space between letters in a word or paragraph. Margins
Tracking can be adjusted within the software The measurement around the edges of a page layout
depending on the designer’s needs. Tight tracking that provides white space around a document, used
gives the letters a crowded appearance, loose to protect the body text.
tracking can make the words harder to read.
Bleed
Baseline In print normally, this is when an image, text or color
The invisible line on which all letters (and words) background exceeds beyond the page dimensions
rest. Baselines can also be altered in software. and is trimmed by the printer.

Leading Font Management Software

The space between lines of type. Measured from This is the software that controls the fonts within
baseline to baseline in a text. your computer system. Fonts can be turned on and
off depending on their need. It is often useful to turn
Point size off the fonts in your computer that you don’t use,
The size of type (fonts) is measured in points. as the computer starts to slow down with too many
8-12 pts= body copy 18-72 pts= headline fonts. FontBook is presently the Font Management
system used in Mac computers.