From the course: Choosing and Using Web Fonts

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Understanding font classification

Understanding font classification

From the course: Choosing and Using Web Fonts

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Understanding font classification

Now we're going to pull back and look at the big picture. Let's talk about general categories of fonts. There are many ways to classify typefaces, and that none of them are perfect. Typographers and type designers themselves can't agree on one way to classify fonts. This is because, unlike Biology, type design is an art, not a science, and everyone has their own way of thinking about fonts. But there is a traditional way of classifying fonts; it's called the five families of type. In the top row, we have examples of old style, transitional, and modern fonts. Next, we have slab serif fonts, and finally, sans serif fonts. The five families of type is a great place to start, but it's an imperfect system. One problem is that it classifies fonts in terms of historical shifts in font design, but the fonts originally designed during these historical periods only span from the late 15th century to the mid 20th century, so the system leaves out the earliest approaches to type design, as well…

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