Test your typography knowledge with some quick information on fonts and typefaces.
Although the term font is often used to describe all text character attributes, it is really a specific size and style of characters within a typeface. A typeface is a set of letters, numbers, punctuation marks, and symbols of the same design. Source: TechTerms.com
- Examples of fonts: Times Roman 12 pt. italic, Helvetica 16 pt. underline, Comic Sans 9 pt. bold
- Examples of font characteristics: Size, weight (ultra-light to extra-bold), style (regular, italic, underline,
strikethrough) - Examples of typefaces: Times Roman, Helvetica, Comic Sans
- Examples of typeface characteristics: Serif, sans serif, script, decorative (Wingdings, Zapf Dingbats)
Resources for font usage in print and digital environments:
- Fontology: Practical Typography articles on Fonts.com
- How to Choose & Use Fonts & Typefaces by Andrea Pennoyer, Sam Hampton-Smith, David Woodward, Ambar Galan, Tony Seddon (General Editor). London: Flame Tree Publishing, 2015
Font websites:
- MyFonts (prices vary)
- Google Fonts (free)
- Adobe Typekit (prices vary; access is also included with Adobe Creative Cloud subscriptions)
- FontShop (prices vary)
- Fonts.com (prices vary)
