What is Typeface?
A typeface is is a selection of stylistically related letters which collectively comprise a family of alphabets which can be used for typesetting. Typeface design also usually includes numbers and symbols which are designed to blend stylistically with the core alphabet used in the design. It is also possible to design entirely symbolic typefaces, such as the specialty products used by mathematicians, and typefaces come in all languages. Typefaces and fonts are frequently confused. A typeface is a design family of items which are interrelated: Garamond, for example, is a typeface. A font is a particular iteration of a typeface: 12 point Garamond italic is a font within the Garamond family. While this distinction may seem petty, especially to people who are accustomed to using “font” and “typeface” interchangeably, it is important, because the individual fonts within a typeface can take on a huge variety of iterations. Historically, a typeface designer would create the desired look and f
A typeface is a set of characters of the same design. These characters include letters, numbers, punctuation marks, and symbols. Some popular typefaces include Arial, Helvetica, Times, and Verdana. While most computers come with a few dozen typefaces installed, there are thousands of typefaces available. Because they are vector-based (not bitmaps), typefaces can be scaled very large and still look sharp. The term “typeface” is often confused with “font,” which is a specific size and style of a typeface. For example, Verdana is a typeface, while Verdana 10 pt bold is a font. It’s a small difference, but is good to know.
