Type Classification

Considering that artists have been de-

signing them for over 500 years and are still
doing so today, the fact that there are over
30,000 typefaces isn't surprising. After work-
ing with type for a while you may begin to
notice some familiar typefaces in magazines,
on billboards and even on television. But,
even the most seasoned designer will recog-
nize only a few dozen by sight.
To some extent, the popularity of one
typefaces over others runs in cycles. If an ad
with its headline in a particular typeface
wins lots of awards, you can bet you'll be
seeing lots of ads in that font the following
year. In the 1990s for instance, fonts with
very tall ascenders got lots of exposure.
For reference purposes, I'll be telling you the names of the fonts I
use as examples. But, I do not expect you to be able to identify fonts
by name on quizzes. I DO, however, expect you to know the charac-
teristics that identify a particular category or subcategory. I won't
cover all the subcategories or all the minute details that are used--
just some of the most important ones.
The word, typeface, is used broadly to refer to an alphabet with
letters having a character-defining shapes. In graphic design, type is
classified more specifically according to category, subcategory,
family and font. The term, font, refers to an individual alphabet
and often is used interchangeably with the word, typeface. There
are three categories into which all type may be classified. They are
serifs, sans serifs and display faces.

(Americana) (Veljovic) (Grail) (Souvenir)

Serif typefaces are based on the Roman alphabet. Many

were designed 300 to 500 years ago and are still popular today.
You can see above that the individual shapes of serif alphabets can
vary widely. That's true of each category. But, what all serif fonts
have in common are the small extensions at the ends of the strokes
of the letters. These are called serifs.
Go to Serif
Subcategories
 Type Classification

Uniform Stroke Width

(Helvetica) Sans serif typefaces simply have no serifs on the
letters. The word, sans, is the French word for "without."
There was a long debate in the advertising world as to whether
sans serif fonts are as easily readable as those with serifs. An
extensive study in the early 1990s concluded that consumers
have absolutely no preference one way or the other.
Variable Stroke Width Fewer subcategory are defined for sans serif fonts than
(Cosmos)
for serifs. Perhaps that's because the fonts in this category
are considerably younger than many serifs--only about 50
years old. Even so, a few distinctions are noteworthy.
Most sans serif fonts have all the strokes of the letter
very nearly the same width (top and bottom fonts at left),
Modified but a few have width variations (second font from top).
(Optima) Perhaps the most unique look among sans serifs is illus-
trated by the Optima family (second from bottom). The
vertical strokes of the letters are concave at the center
and flair at the ends. This creates the optical illusion that
the typeface has small serifs.
While many individual letters are used to define
Balloon A subcategories, one of the most obvious is the lower case
(Futura)
a. The majority of fonts in all categories have the
hooded a shown in the first three samples at left.
Among the sans serifs, however, you'll find a number
of fonts with the "balloon on a stick" a shown in the
last example.
Display fonts run the gamut. Some have serifs, some
don't. Some don't even remotely resemble either of the other
categories. What distinguishes display fonts is readability. Any font
that is difficult or uncomfortable to read in a small size or large
quantity is classified as a display typeface. Imagine opening up a
700 page novel or your Sunday newspaper and discovering that the
text has been set in one of the display fonts below.

(Shelley-Volante) (Freeform-710) (Greymantle) (Curlz) (Banshee)

Go to Display
Subcategories
 Type Classification

The name of a typeface, Goudy, Bodoni,

Helvetica, etc., identifies its family. The mem-
bers of a type family are variations of the origi-
nal face. The word after the family name tells either
the category to which it belongs (e.g.: Bernhard Modern)
or how it was modified. For instance, Goudy Italic tells
you that the font tilts to the right. The word, oblique, is also used
sometimes to designate a right tilting font. Because they were
originally designed as entirely separate fonts, the italic versions of
older fonts generally aren't merely skewed versions of the original,
but rather have their own letterforms and character. Today, com-
puters do a passable job of creating italic versions for fonts whose
designers didn't.
Another tilted family member is the back-slant. It tilts to the
left. Although they're very rare as separately designed family
members, the skew (or shear) feature in most graphics and layout
software lets digital designers create them quite easily. But, don't
get too excited. They're somewhat hard to read.
Most type family include one or more variations created by
changing the stroke weight. Below are examples of the different
stroke weight members in the type family called Eras. It also has
italic versions for each different weight. I don't know of any font
family that has all the weights listed on the chart, but bold versions
are very common. Although a bold version can be created in the
some computer programs such as PageMaker, but they don't do it
very well. It's best to use fonts with names identifying them as bold.

ne m ar y
irli hin ight o k e diuegul m i
o ld xtra Heav lack ltra
H a T L Bo M R De B E B U

Condensed Expanded
(50%) (150%)
The expanded and condensed members of a type family are
created by stretching or squeezing the width of the letters. Above
you can see the difference between stroke and width modifica-
tions. A pre-computer designer might have had one or the other of
these versions to work with in a family, seldom both. A contemporary
 Type Classification

Aa designer working in the PageMaker application can make 950 con-

Aa A a
densed and 1,500 expanded versions simply by manipulating the

Aa
Above are three types of sha-
width of the letters in increments as small as .1%.
As specially designed family members, shadow fonts and the
others mentioned on this page are quite rare. On the other hand,
some can be computer generated or created relatively easily.
dow type. At top right is a de- Notice that the appearance of the different kinds of shadow type
signed font called Imprint can be vary considerably.
Shadow. The top left font is a
computer generated shadow Outline fonts have a stroke, but no fill. While families with
version of the Usherwood Bold. members are fairly rare, they're a snap to create on a computer.
Both bottom versions were
made by placing a 20% tinted Inline fonts show a smaller copy of the letter inside a larger
copy of the Usherwood Bold one. A rarity among existing fonts, you'll learn how to create them
letters behind them. in Adobe Illustrator.
Swash and flair versions are always designed. Both members

Aa
There is little difference be-
have extensions or curlicues added to the strokes of some letters.
Swashes extend downward below the base line and flairs extend
upward above it. Occasionally, you'll encounter a more common
family member that has a few alternate swash/flair letters. You can
locate them using a font browser or the Key Caps function on the
tween designed and computer
Apple menu of your computer.
generated outline fonts (above
left). Inline letters such as As if all the variation within type categories, subcategories and
those above right can be de- families didn't give designers with enough creative possibilities to
signed in Illustrator as can the last a lifetime, could there be still more? You bet. We haven't even
swash and flair letters below. scratched the surface. There's a whole spectrum of special effects
that can be applied to type after it has been set. As you learn more
about typography in class and in your on-line lectures, I hope you
begin to see the creative possibilities of type as a powerful visual
element in addition to the verbal message.

Flair

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