This document provides a classification system for typefaces. It divides typefaces into three main categories based on their historical origins: humanist (associated with calligraphy and the Renaissance), transitional (more abstract with sharper serifs, associated with the Baroque period), and modern (highly abstract with thin serifs and strong contrast, associated with the Enlightenment). More recent schemes have proposed finer distinctions to better capture typographic diversity. Designers continue to create new typefaces inspired by historical styles.

1. Laura Martinez ypography
Design

2. A basic system for classifying typefaces was
devised in the nineteenth century, when print-
ers sought to identify a heritage for their own
craft analogous to that of art history. Hu-
manist letter forms are closely connected to
calligraphy and the movement of the hand.
Transitional and modern typefaces are more
abstract and less organic.
Caecilia LT Std, Regular
PREFACE
These three main groups correspond roughly to
the Renaissance, Baroque, and Enlightenment pe-
riods in art and literature. Historians and critics
of typography have since proposed more finely
grained schemes that attempt to better capture
the diversity of letter forms. Designers in the
twentieth and twenty-first centuries have con-
tinued to create new typefaces based on historic
characteristics.
1

3. CONTENTS
Slab Serif
2
Serif
Inscriptional
Transitional
Modern
Sans-serif
Humanist
Grotesque
Decorative
Italic
Old Style
Geometric
Serif
BLACKLETTER

4. style prevalent during the Middle Ages. Due to the com-
plexity of the letters they may be hard to read particularly
in blocks of text. They are commonly used for similar pur-
poses as the Scripts, initial
caps and on certificates. Recent research, however, found that leg-
ibility is linked to familiarity; and the san-serif style of today would
be equally illegible to Middle Age man.
Fette Fraktur LT Std
3
BLACKLETTER/GOTHIC

5. Research has shown that the barely noticeable
serifs greatly aid our recognition of the char-
acters and help us to read by leading the eye
across the line of text. For this reason body text
is easier to read in a serif font.
Serif
/ Roman
RomanSerif
4

6. The roman typefaces of the fifteenth and sixteenth cen-
turies emulated classical calligraphy. Sabon was designed
by Jan Tschichold in 1966, based on the sixteenth-century
typefaces of Claude Garamond.
HUMANIST OR
H
OLDSTYLE
Archistico
5

7. TRANSITIONAL
These typefaces have sharper serifs
and a more verti- cal axis than hu-
manist letters.
When the typefaces
When the typefaces
of John Baskerville were introduced in the mid
eigh- teenth century, their sharp forms and
high contrast were considered shocking.
Transit511 BT
6

8. The typefaces designed by Giambattista
Bodoni in the late eighteenth and early
nineteenth centuries are radically abstract.
M
Note the thin, straight serifs; verti-
cal axis; and sharp contrast from
thick to thin strokes.
o
d
e
R
n
Federal Escort
7

9. Num
erousbold
and
decorative
typefaceswereintro-duced
in
the
nineteenth
century
forusein
ad-
vertising.Egyptian
typefaceshave
heavy,slab
likeserifs.
EGYPTIAN OR SLAB SERIF
Huxtable
8

10. Sans-serif typefaces became common in the twentieth
century. Gill Sans, designed by Eric Gill in 1928, has hu-
manist characteristics.
SANS SERIF
Kalenderblatt Grotesk
9

11. G
Helvetica, designed by Max Mieding-
er in 1957, is one of the world’s most
widely used typefaces.
lt’s uniform, upright character
makes it similar to transitional
serif letters
These fonts are also referred
to as “anonymous sans serif ”
Archivo Black (OTF)
10
rotesque

12. Geometric
Some sans-serif types are built around geomet-
ric forms. In Futura, designed by Paul Renner in
1927, the Os are perfect circles, and the peaks of
the A and M are sharp triangles.
Akron Sans NBP
11

13. These fonts are commonly seen in short
bursts such as on invitations, business and
in advertisements.
Scripts
Script typefaces were de-
signed to imitate handwrit-
ing. So that when printed
the characters appear to
be joined up.
The writing implements they replicate range
from a fountain den to a paintbrush and as
with handwriting, text should not be all in
capitals.
Aguafina Script
12

14. Script typefaces were
designed to imitate handwrit-
ing. So that when printed the
characters appear to be joined up.
The writing implements they rep-
licate range from a fountain den
to a paintbrush and
as with handwriting,
text should not be all in
capitals.
These fonts are com-
monly seen in short
bursts such as on invi-
tations, business and in
advertisements.
D
ecorative
Archistico
13

15. Italic
Script typefaces were designed to imitate
handwrit- ing. So that when printed the
characters appear to be joined up. The
writing implements they replicate range
from a fountain den to a paintbrush and
as with handwriting, text should not be all
in capitals. These fonts are commonly seen
in short bursts such as on invitations, busi-
ness and in advertisements.Kaliber Solid
BRK
14
Mutter Krause