Chapter 3
Type Family Classification
End of Chapter Review Answers
1. What is a typeface?
A typeface refers to all the letterforms that have been especially designed by a designer for a specific use.
What is a font?
What is a type style?
2. What are two possible meanings of type family?
4. Describe how the terminals, angle of stress, contrast, stroke weights, set widths, and x-heights look for each
type family category.
Blackletter– sharp terminals that may include flourishes, terminals may or may not have serifs, usually and
oblique angle of stress, high contrast between thicks and thins, tall x-height, Gothic set widths often appear
narrow and Celtic set widths often appear wide
very slightly angled, serifs are lightly bracketed and straighter and sharper than Old Style serifs, usually
vertical angle of stress, medium contrast between thins and thicks, generally higher contrast than Old Style
typefaces, medium x-height, characters tend to be narrower than Old Style typefaces.
Modern– terminals may be pointed, rounded, angular or may end in a teardrop or ball shape, but generally
lighter, sharper and straighter than Transitional terminals, lowercase ascender terminals are usually
are based on geometric shapes
Humanist sans serif– are based on the proportions of the original Humanist typefaces, they have an organic
feel
Scripts– are designed to look hand-rendered
Display– old and new typefaces that do not fit into any of the other categories, members of this family do not
5. Why did Gutenburg use a blackletter typeface to print his 42-line Bible?
6. Where did Humanist typefaces originate, and why did printers start to use them?
7. What’s the difference between Humanist and Old Style typefaces?
8. What elements changed from Old Style to Transitional typefaces? From Transitional to Modern?
Transitional typefaces were based on technical, scientific and mathematical principles rather than on scribal
9. Why did Display typefaces become popular in the nineteenth century?
10. Why did Sans-Serif typefaces become popular in the twentieth century?