ABSTRACT

This chapter explores fonts, including styling them for both function and aesthetics. To begin at the beginning, a font is a complete set of characters in a particular size and style of type. A typeface or font family contains a series of fonts. For instance, Times Bold, Times Italic and Times Roman are actually three fonts, even though people often refer to one entire font family as a font. A glyph is an individual character of a font. The shape of a font’s glyphs determines its category. Learning to recognize and identify font categories is an important first step in selecting the right font for the right job. Fonts have a complex anatomy, and the names of some font parts are known only to font designers and true type enthusiasts. For both print and screen applications, limit the use of decorative fonts to headlines, decorative details, ornaments or very small amounts of type.