What is the difference between typeface and type family

The basic classification of typefaces is as follows: Serifs : These typefaces have small extensions, which embellish the basic structure of a typeface.

Serif typefaces have existed since the beginning of type. They are visible in Old style and Humanist type serifs like Garamond. Baskerville, another serif typeface belongs to the transitional era. Bodoni and Rockwell are part of Modern and Slab serif Egyptian styled typefaces. Sans-serif : Sans means without. These typefaces are devoid of those small extensions, hence without serif. Script : Letter forms developed in close relation to human handwriting are script typefaces.

They are flexible in nature with varying stroke widths. Example : Bistro Script, Shelly, Minstral etc. Blackletter : A bold script style of calligraphy used heavily during the renaissance. Example: Fraktur Decorative : Typefaces which do not fit in other categories are decorative in nature. Built for specific use cases which largely consist of headlines, posters etc. But, at the end of the day, one has to wonder if the distinction really matters today.

The main difference between these two terms is that a typeface or type family is the name of a specific collection of related fonts. In comparison, font refers to a particular weight, width, and style within that typeface. To put it in simple terms, each variation of a typeface is a font. For example, Helvetica would be the typeface chosen for a project, but the actual font in use might be Helvetica Regular 9 points.

To set your type, you had to use a collection of metal pieces called fonts. Via Toptal. Via Free Fonts Vault. Via Site Point. Via My Fonts. Via Font Mirror. Via FFonts. Via Identifont. Via Fonts. Via Fonts Market. Book cover design by Mila. T-shirt design by YeiM. Need a font or typeface that inspires?

Our designers can help you create just about anything. Browse designers. You're in! You proved us right again. Our newsletter is only for the coolest kids.

Get ready for amazing stuff in your inbox. Looks like something went wrong. Since the majority of written words are now produced in one digital form or another, fonts and typefaces have become much more important than they used to be.

And to the chagrin of graphic designers and generally nerdy people everywhere, those terms are often used interchangeably. To be even more precise, a specific font was a collection of glyphs in a specific size and weight bold, italic, etc.

A collection that does include more than one specific style of font is called a font family. Most modern operating systems can tell the difference between a single font and a font family, and group them accordingly. In Windows 10, the Font folder is a specific folder in the Control Panel. Simply copy font files into it in order to install them for use in any compatible program. Single font files are displayed as a single file, but font families have a stacked file icon.

It helps to speak their language. So just remember: typeface is the design, font is the file, font family is the collection of files. Browse All iPhone Articles Browse All Mac Articles Do I need one? Browse All Android Articles Browse All Smart Home Articles Customize the Taskbar in Windows Browse All Microsoft Office Articles What Is svchost.