For computer screens, where each individual pixel can mean the difference between legible and illegible characters, some digital fonts use hinting algorithms to make readable bitmaps at small sizes. Digital type became the dominant form of type in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Digital fonts store the image of each character either as a bitmap in a bitmap font, or by mathematical description of lines and curves in an outline font, also called a vector font. Bitmap fonts were more commonly used in the earlier stages of digital type, and are rarely used today. These bitmapped typefaces were first produced by Casady & Greene, Inc. and were also known as Fluent Fonts. Fluent Fonts became mostly obsolete with the creation of downloadable PostScript fonts, and these new fonts are called Fluent Laser Fonts (FLF).

In CSS1, the suggested
scaling factor between adjacent indexes was 1.5, which user experience
proved to be too large. In CSS2, the suggested scaling factor for a
computer screen between adjacent indexes was 1.2, which still created
issues for the small sizes. Implementation experience has demonstrated
that a fixed ratio between adjacent absolute-size keywords is
problematic, and this specification does not recommend such a
fixed ratio. To preserve readability, a UA applying
these guidelines should nevertheless avoid creating font-size resulting
in less than 9 pixels per EM unit on a computer display. Fonts with Oblique, Slanted or Incline in their names will
typically be labeled ‘oblique’ in the UA’s font database.

Style of typefaces

Humanist fonts are easier to read than traditional sans-serifs, and remember, in 1996, computer screens had terrible resolution. Later in the 1900s, after the Grotesques came to the Neo-Grotesque sans serif typefaces. These typefaces were designed to be more legible than their earlier counterparts and generally have much plainer designs. Helvetica and Arial are both examples of Neo-Grotesque sans serifs. They have little contrast between strokes and most are unbracketed.

A lot of these Incised types are based on Roman inscriptions and might only contain capitals, such as Trajan, which is based on the lettering from the Trajan column. Geometric fonts might seem simple and easy to design, but in reality there are lots of subtle optical adjustments to make the shapes look pure and monolinear. However, an understanding of type design history will help make a designer make better choices, such as in pairing fonts, or finding the right type style for a logo or piece of lettering work. Knowing the historical connotations of certain styles, or simply their visual features, can be invaluable in these situations. Decorative font style consists of typefaces that do not belong to any other typefaces. Primarily designed for display and having one thing in common, Decorative Font is always distinctive, original, and eye-catching.

Typography vs. Typeface vs. Font

Greeking is used in typography to determine a typeface’s colour, or weight and style, and to demonstrate an overall typographic aesthetic prior to actual type setting. Some typefaces are specifically designed to be printed at small sizes, for example in telephone directories or on newsprint paper. Bell Gothic and Bell Centennial, commissioned for telephone directories, are notable examples of this. Small-print designs often feature a large x-height, and a chunky design. Some fonts used at such sizes may be members of a larger typeface family joining members for normal sizes.

And in 1510, Aldus Manutius and Francesco Griffo created the first italic typeface that improved on the later typefaces to fit more words into a page. It’s also used to emphasize specific phrases depending on the topic. By 1470, Nicolas Jenson thought of a more efficient font, the roman typeface, which was slimmer than Blackletters and allowed more words to be printed on a page.

Monospaced

They have a bold, chunky look that is delicate at the same time. In general, they come with hairline strokes within broader strokes. Some of the font families use unorthodox letter shapes and proportions to create a more dramatic effect and distinctive appearance, as seen in the examples below. Calligraphic scripts that originally appeared in religious books, ancient edicts and historical writings inspired modern-day typographers to come up with a digital counterpart. These elegant typefaces are oftentimes used in diplomas and invitations.

They frequently reflect an aspect of culture – such as tattoos or graffiti – or evoke a particular state of mind, time period or theme. Many – such as psychedelic or grunge designs – are time-sensitive and fall out of fashion. Some decorative typefaces use unorthodox letter shapes and proportions to achieve distinctive and dramatic results. Lucida is a family of fonts with one basic design, but offered in two variations. Lucida is suitable for books/text, documentation/business reports, posters, advertisement, multimedia. Script typeface is excellent for movie titles, book covers, packaging design, etc.

How to Use Serif Fonts

Stroke contrast is less pronounced than earlier designs, and much of the “squareness” in curved strokes has been rounded. Normally the most obvious distinguishing characteristic of these faces is their single bowl g and more monotone weight stress. Display type refers to the use of type at large sizes, perhaps 30 points or larger. Some typefaces are considered useful solely at display sizes, and are known as display faces.

This type of font is known by the “feet” seen at the top and bottom of each letter. There are a variety of different types of serif fonts that you can choose from. Virtually all designers, from brand designers to UI designers to dedicated typography designers, can benefit from expanding their knowledge of typography and typeface classification.

2 Font matching algorithm

It has a moderate stroke contrast and a large x-height, which makes it easy to read at small sizes. Arial is a sans-serif typeface designed by Robin Nicholas and Patricia Saunders in 1982. It was initially designed as a display font for IBM’s new laser printer and intended to be a licence-free alternative to the popular but expensive font Helvetica. Garamond’s typefaces are known for their elegance and readability, with a strong emphasis on legibility and clarity. They are characterised by their small x-height, long ascenders and descenders, and moderate stroke contrast, which gives them a refined and formal appearance. Futura is a sans-serif typeface designed in 1927 by German typeface designer Paul Renner.

They were called “grotesque” due to their rejection of the more “elegant” serif design elements. Clarendon Serifs
This category includes the typefaces patterned after the Clarendon type styles first released in the mid 19th century. Clarendons were designed as bold faces to accompany text composition. Their choosing fonts for website stroke contrast is slight, and serifs tend to be short to medium length. Later, many of these designs were released at larger point sizes as display types. Character stroke weight that is more obvious, and serifs that tend to be longer than earlier designs, mark more current interpretations of this style.

Sign up for a free account with Visme today and start exploring our font library, templates and everything else our design editor has to offer. They aren’t ideal for reading longer passages, so be sure to use them in headings and other one-off designs. These typefaces are creatively used for signage, headlines and all other display projects requiring a strong typographic statement. The thick serif font used in the header helps to reel in the reader and make your customer reviews stand out.

• These typefaces have abrupt and dramatic contrast between thin and thick strokes.
• The display typeface is a decorative script that is often used for logos, headlines, and similar purposes.
• These fonts included the characters which were missing on either Macintosh or Windows computers, e.g. fractions, ligatures or some accented glyphs.
• Are you ready to start creating stunning designs while putting the best fonts forward?
• Many technical improvements in printing and punchcutting during that period gave opportunities for refinement and production of many typefaces, revivals of which are still widely used for setting books or long texts.