Type Anatomy & Classification · Page 5 of 8
What are the seven type categories?
Most typefaces fit into one of seven families. Each one grew out of a moment in history.
Typefaces are grouped by how their letters are drawn. Serif categories are named for the eras that created them, and each one changed the contrast, stress and serifs a little more. Sans serifs dropped the serifs, and Script and Display broke the rules for personality.
The seven categories
Old Style
Late 1400s–1700s · Italy, France, England
Low contrast, diagonal stress and curved, bracketed serifs. Feels classic, literary and warm.
What to look for
- Low contrast between thick and thin strokes
- Diagonal (bias) stress: the thin parts of the “o” sit at about 11 and 5 o’clock
- Bracketed serifs that curve smoothly into the stem
- Slanted head serifs on lowercase letters like b, d and l
- Small x-height, giving a warm, classic, handwritten feel
Examples: Garamond, Bembo, Caslon, Jenson, Goudy Old Style
Shown: EB Garamond
Transitional
Mid-1700s · England and France, the “bridge” between Old Style and Modern
Medium contrast, nearly vertical stress and sharper serifs with smaller brackets. Feels established and formal.
What to look for
- Medium contrast: more than Old Style, but not extreme
- Nearly vertical stress: the “o” is thinnest almost at the top and bottom
- Sharper, flatter serifs with smaller brackets
- Head serifs more horizontal than in Old Style
- Wider, rounder letters and a larger x-height
Examples: Baskerville, Times New Roman, Georgia, Perpetua
Shown: Libre Baskerville
Modern
Also called Didone · late 1700s–1800s
Extreme contrast, vertical stress and hairline serifs with little or no bracket. Feels elegant and dramatic.
What to look for
- High contrast: very thick strokes beside hairline-thin strokes
- Vertical stress
- Thin, flat serifs with small or no brackets, meeting the stem at a sharp right angle
- Ball terminals on letters like a, c, f and r
- Crisp, elegant look, often seen in fashion magazines
Examples: Bodoni, Didot, Walbaum
Shown: Bodoni Moda
Slab Serif
Also called Egyptian · early 1800s, the Industrial Revolution
Thick, block-like serifs that usually have no brackets. Feels sturdy, confident and a little industrial.
What to look for
- Thick, block-like serifs, almost as heavy as the main strokes
- Little or no contrast: strokes are nearly even
- Serifs usually have no brackets: square, blunt corners
- Bold, sturdy, mechanical look
- Made to stand out on posters and advertising
Examples: Rockwell, Clarendon, Courier, Memphis, Museo Slab
Shown: Arvo
Sans Serif
Early 1800s; popular from the 1920s to today
No serifs and little or no contrast, with simple, clean shapes. Feels modern, clear and neutral.
What to look for
- No serifs (“sans” is French for “without”)
- Low or no contrast: strokes are even in weight
- Vertical stress and simple, clean shapes
- Large x-height; easy to read on screens and signs
- Subgroups: grotesque, geometric and humanist
Examples: Helvetica, Futura, Gill Sans, Arial, Frutiger
Shown: Work Sans (grotesque)
Script
1700s–today · based on handwriting and calligraphy
Looks written with a pen or brush, and the letters often connect. Feels personal, romantic or formal.
What to look for
- Based on penmanship: essentially “writing letters”
- Strokes that connect one letter to the next
- Slanted, flowing shapes with loops and swashes
- Thick and thin strokes from pen pressure or a brush
- Hard to read in all caps or long paragraphs
Examples: Edwardian Script, Snell Roundhand, Zapfino, Brush Script
Shown: Great Vibes
Display
1800s wood type posters–today · made for headlines, logos and signs
Made for big, short text. Unusual or decorative shapes with a loud personality.
What to look for
- Designed for large sizes, not long paragraphs
- Breaks the rules: unusual, exaggerated or decorative shapes
- Strong personality that sets a mood or theme
- Often very heavy, very wide or very condensed
- Hard to read at small sizes, so it is used sparingly
Examples: Cooper Black, Broadway, Bungee, Peignot
Shown: Bungee
A short timeline
- 1470
Old Style
Nicolas Jenson cuts a roman type in Venice. Garamond follows in the 1530s and Caslon in the 1720s.
- 1740s
Script
George Bickham’s The Universal Penman (1741) shows off elegant roundhand handwriting. Typefounders soon cast script types that copy it, and Snell Roundhand (1966) still does.
- 1757
Transitional
John Baskerville sharpens contrast and straightens the stress.
- 1790s
Modern
Giambattista Bodoni and the Didot family push contrast to the extreme.
- 1815
Slab Serif
Heavy “Egyptian” letters shout from Industrial Revolution posters.
- 1816
Sans Serif
William Caslon IV shows a type without serifs. It catches on later: Akzidenz-Grotesk (1898), Johnston’s humanist London Underground type (1916), geometric Futura (1927) and Helvetica (1957).
- 1828
Display
Darius Wells starts making large wooden letters for posters, and decorative poster types take off. Cooper Black (1922) and today’s Bungee carry on the idea.
Grotesque, geometric and humanist are kinds of Sans Serif: Helvetica is a grotesque, Futura is geometric and Gill Sans is humanist. You may also see Blackletter (the dark, angular style of medieval manuscripts), Condensed, Handwriting or Bitmap used as categories. In this lesson, sort them into the seven above: most Blackletter and decorative faces are used as Display type today.
© Created by Sara Rosenstock, Marietta College Graphic Design.