WEEK 2: Typeface Classification Overview Most typefaces can be classified into one of four basic groups: those with serifs, san serifs, scripts and decorative Sans Serif: Gill Sans styles. Over the years, typographers and scholars of typog- raphy have devised various systems to more definitively Serif: Baskerville categorize typefaces, some of these systems have scores of sub-categories. In this class we will focus on 7 catergories: Egyptian: Clarendon Sans Serif The term “Sans Serif” is derived from French and means “without serifs”. Some examples of Sans Serif types are Helvetica, Frutiger, Optima, Avenir and Futura. Serif A small decorative line added as embellishment to the Italic: Avenir Italic basic form of a character, sometimes called “feet”. Common serif typefaces include Times Roman, Baskerville and Garamond. Egyptian (or slab serif) Slab serif typefaces became popular in the 19th century for advertising display. These Script:Decorative: Bickman Metal Lord typefaces have very heavy serifs. Generally, changes in stroke weight are imperceptible. To many readers, slab serif type styles look like sans serif designs with the simple addition of heavy (stroke weight) serifs. Blackletter Blackletter, also sometimes referred to as Gothic, Fraktur or Old English, was used in the Guthenburg Bible, one of the first books printed in Europe. This type- face is recognizable by its dramatic thin & thick strokes, and in some fonts, the elaborate swirls on the serifs. Blackletter typefaces are based on early manuscript lettering. Italic Italic type is a cursive font based on a stylized form of calligraphic handwriting. Initially it was designed to save space. Today italics are used to show emphasis. Script These typefaces are derived from 17th century formal writing styles. Many characters have strokes that join them to other letters. Decorative Decorative or display fonts became popular in the 19th century and were used extensively on posters and advertisements. This style of type and lettering is artistic and eye-catching, and typically is not used for body text..