Typefaces and Letterfonts

Typefaces and Letter Forms Serif – Serif is a small line that is added onto the end of a stroke in a letter or symbol. A typeface with serifs is called a serif typeface.Serif is mainly used in books, e-books, newspaper columns and magazines.Serifs originated in the Latin alphabet, words were carved into stone in roman antiquity. The Roman letters were originally painted onto stone and the stone carvers would follow the marks.Types of serif –

Book example:

Sans-SerifSans-serif typeface does not have small lines called ‘serifs’ at the end of strokes.The term comes from the French word sans meaning ‘without’.Sans-serif fonts are mainly used for headings rather than the main body text.The first sans-serif types were developed in the 18th century. They became popular in printed media around the 19th century under the terms ‘Egyptian’ then later ‘grotesque’.Types of sans-serif - Helvetica, News Gothic, Impact , Gill Sans MT.Book Example –

Decorative Decorative fonts have extreme features such as exaggerated serifs, extreme features like swashes and any font larger than body copy size can be described as decorative type.Decorative type fonts became popular in the 19th century and were mainly used on posters and advertisements.Types of decorative typefaces –

Book Example -