A basic chart designed for easy reference. Made in July 2011.

1. TypeClassification
Characteristics
What makes humanist, humanist? Great grand parents of today’s type
1460s & 1470s
(sometimes referred to as Venetian)
Application
Humanist
Old Style
Transitional
(or Neoclassical)
(or Didone)
(or Egyptian/ Square serif)
Modern
Slab Serif
1. Sloping cross-bar on the lowercase “e”;
2. Relatively small x-height;
Low contrast between “thick” and “thin” strokes
(basically that means that there is little variation
in the stroke width)
This period saw type getting into gear
1. Horizontal cross-bar on the lowercase “e”;
2. More upright stress;
3. Wedge shaped serifs;
Higher contrast between “thick” and “thin”
strokes (increases legibility)
Moving away from calligraphic forms
1. Vertical or almost vertical stress in the
bowls of lowercase letters;
2. greater contrast between thick and
thin strokes
Taking contrast to further extremes
1. High and abrupt contrast between thick and
thin strokes;
2. Abrupt (unbracketed) hairline (thin) serifs;
3. Small aperture;
Vertical axis and horizontal stress
Born in Britain, nothing to do with Egypt
1. Thinner serifs; 2. Bracketed serifs;
3. Larger x-height;
4. The slab serif period saw another subset of
type called Fat faces. It is basically a modern
style type only carrying all that extra weight
Although the influence of Humanist types is far
reaching, they aren’t often seen these days.
However, they deserve our attention because
they are the great grand parents of today’s
types. Examples: Jenson, Centaur.
Still popular text faces
Unlike the relatively short-lived Humanist faces,
the Old Style faces held sway for more than
two centuries; a number of them are still
popular text faces today. Examples: Bembo,
Garamond, Palatino, Goudy Old Style, Calisto.
Orientation with time
These typefaces are still used for specific
content pertaining to that era. It is used for
modern day brand names and text faces.
Examples: Baskerville, Bookman(Linotype).
Functional and clean
They’re generally not suited to setting extended
text, as the verticality of the letter forms interfere
with the text’s horizontal rhythm. They need lots
of white space and inter-line space, so give them
extra leading and generous margins. Examples: ITC
Bodoni, Didot, Modern No. 20.
Designed to be noticed
These are found on posters, leaflet, pamphlet and
billboards of the day. It’s suited for display as it is
loud and stands out of the crowd. Slab serif
examples: Clarendon, American Typewriter. Fat face
example: Poster Bodoni.
Black letter in a Latin Bible of AD 1407
8
Modelled on humanist
Italian writers.
It is the first roman type.
*
*
*
Strong roots in calligraphy.
The first Italic type was
designed in 1501.
*
* Old Style type is sharper
in appearance.
Both Old Style and Moderns
share vertical axis, Moderns
have higher contrast
*
Transitional types have no
influence of the
handwritten letter form.
*
eius
1
2
During the 1800s a system of classifying type was derived,
and although numerous other systems and subsets of this
system exist, one of those is:
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TransitionalOld StyleHumanist
Sans SerifSlab SerifModern
d
Endeavour
Endeavour
Humanist
Old Style
o
1 2 3
e
2
Humanist Old Style Transitional
Bembo Std Baskerville
ooo
MM
1
Before Humanist
The very first form of movable type was
Blackletter. Also referred to as Black,
Gothic, Fraktur or Old English.
didone
1
3
2
* More Precise and sharper
The idea of display faces
came into being.
*
Sans Serifs can be taken up separately for classification, as they are a system in themselves.
FAT FACE
n1
4
3
n2
Source: www.ilovetypography.com,
Type History Series
Set in : Frutiger LT Std & Arno Pro
Designed & compiled by: Sheel Damani