Typeface facts for kids
In typography, a typeface is a family of fonts. Every glyph in a typeface shares certain design features. Typefaces have names, such as Times New Roman, Garamond, Baskerville.
Every font of a typeface has specific details (such as size and weight) and is used in a particular way. The reason for having different fonts is to give the designer or printer choices which suit various needs. The most basic of all needs is to have the text legible and readable.
There are many versions of typefaces which are out of copyright. "ITC Garamond" is a different typeface from "Adobe Garamond" or "Monotype Garamond". These are all versions of the typeface Garamond, originally created in the 16th century. There are thousands of different typefaces in existence, with new ones being developed constantly.
The art and craft of designing typefaces is called type design. In digital typography, type designers are sometimes also called font developers or font designers.
Every typeface is a collection of glyphs, each of which represents an individual letter, number, punctuation mark, or other symbol. There are typefaces tailored for special applications, such as map-making or astrology and mathematics.
A very widely used typeface is Times New Roman. This is a serif typeface commissioned by the British newspaper The Times in 1931. This typeface was later adapted for use in book printing, and again for use as a computer face. There are now many different versions of this typeface.
- Lawson, Alexander S. 1990. Anatomy of a typeface. Godine. ISBN: 978-0-87923-333-4
Images for kids
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PT Serif (above) and PT Sans (below) from the PT font superfamily, showing the similarities in letter structure.
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Comparison between printed (top) and digital (bottom) versions of Perpetua.
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Proportional (left-side) and tabular (right-side) numeric digits, drawn as lining figures.
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Courier, a monospaced slab serif typeface. All the letters occupy spaces the same width.
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London Underground's Johnston typeface, printed on a large sign
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Reverse-contrast 'Italian' type compared to the bold design Elephant. Both are very bold, but Elephant's thick lines are the verticals and the Italian's are the horizontals.
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Three typefaces designed for headings, offering a clear contrast to body text
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Specimens of printed floral borders from an 1897 type foundry specimen book.
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Examples of dingbats, which could be used in documents such as tourist guides or TV listings.
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Simulated Hebrew
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A Latin text used in a sample of Caslon
See also
In Spanish: Clasificación tipográfica para niños
