


Elegant and balanced, this open-source medium-contrast semi-condensed serif typeface was designed for digital. The first thing to note about Merriweather is that it’s super pleasant to look at. Now that we’ve made the typeface vs font distinction, let’s go over some stunning typefaces and fonts that’ll inspire you to get creative with your designs. Besides, learning the difference wasn’t that difficult, was it? Beautiful Fonts and Typefaces
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FONT AND TYPEFACE PROFESSIONAL
Effects (Inline, Outline, Shadow, etc.)Īnd yet they all share a typeface, a font family: a design philosophy, an overarching style, a concept.ĭoes it matter if you use the right term or not? In most cases, you can use font to mean typeface and get away with it, but if you’re a professional designer, making the distinction and using the right words can make life easier for others in the industry to understand you.Widths (Compressed, Condensed, Narrow, Normal, etc.).Weights (Bold, Black, Light, Thin, etc.).Those fonts can be different in a number of ways: A typeface is a collection of different related fonts. So, what is the difference between a font and a typeface? The former is just the subset of the latter. Back then you needed a different set of metal blocks for each font: Helvetica Bold 16 pt was indeed vastly different from Helvetica Ultra Light 12 pt. The word font (‘fount’ originally) is tied to the old process of printing words using metal blocks, from the Old French verb fondre, meaning ‘to pour out, melt, smelt’. And it is different from Helvetica Neue UltraLight 12 point. If Helvetica is actually a typeface, then what is a font? A font is a subset of a typeface, with width, weights, size, and other details specified.įor example, Helvetica Bold 16 point is a font. That’s also in part because mass digitization made the distinction less crucial: Why bother with particularities when typeface, font size, bolding or italicization is done with a few clicks? What is a Font? Why do we call Helvetica or Arial or Times New Roman a font then? The conflation of the terms started with the digital age, with Microsoft Word having just fonts, no typefaces. By this definition, Helvetica is a typeface. The main stylistic choices in typography – for example, the concepts it reflects and the purposes it serves – all concern the typeface, not the font. But what is a typeface? A typeface is the design of the text, sometimes also known as a family of fonts. So, is Helvetica a font or a typeface? According to classic definitions, it’s a typeface. Differences Between Fonts and Typefaces.
