Fonts & Typefaces

First, let’s get some terms straight. What’s the difference between a font and a typeface? These words used to have very clear distinctions in letterpress printing — a font was a set of metal sorts (or blocks) in a specific size and style of a typeface. This definition became muddled in the digital era where most people interact with type through a “Font” menu. So, it’s understandable why folks use these terms interchangeably, but it can be useful to distinguish them to understand where type comes from and more clearly communicate your choices. For our purposes at the Archive, here is how we define the two terms:

Typeface: the design of a set of characters
Font: the vessel for a set of characters

Put another way, the typeface describes the way the letters look, and the font is the delivery mechanism for those letters, whether it’s a set of wood blocks, a phototype film strip, or a digital file (like an OTF or WOFF). One of our favorite metaphors, coined by Nick Sherman, can help you understand the difference: a typeface is like a song, a font is the way you hear that song, be it a vinyl record, CD, or MP3. Sometimes, “font” can also refer to a single style (Bold) and/or size (12 point) within a type family (Univers), but in the clearest and most widely usable terms:

The typeface is what you see,
and the font is what you use.

Norbert Florendo

Now that we have the definitions out of the way, on this page you’ll find Archive resources to educate and inspire you as you search for the right typeface or learn to use fonts.

Glossary

Character: The basic unit of written language. Can be a letter, a number, a punctuation mark or another symbol. (See Glyph.)

Font and typeface: See the main text on this page.

Foundry: A company that designs, manufactures, and/or distributes fonts.

Glyph: The visual representation of a character. A font can contain several glyphs for each letter – a lowercase ‘a’ and small cap ‘a’, for example – and can also have alternate forms, such as an ‘a’ with a swash tail. In this way, a single character can be represented by different glyphs. (see Character.)

Weight: The thickness of a stroke. In type design, the geometry of a line (or shape) is usually described using the terminology of weight, e.g., “light” or “heavy”.

Style: A stylistic member (e.g. bold, italic, condensed) of a typeface family, typically represented by a separate font.

Header image: The developing Univers, ATF, ca. 1965.

Make Your Own Font

Letterform Archive workshops are short weekend or weekly courses for learning lettering, type design, or typography. See what’s coming up, onsite or online.

Master Type Design

Ready to plunge deep into type design? Type West is a postgraduate certificate program in type design available in-person in San Francisco or online to students worldwide.

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