We are sure that more than once you have been asked the question of what typography is and what its classification is, something that as graphic designers we should all know. Typography is one of the most important design elements and in which aspects such as color, size, layout, and many other aspects related to its style and appearance must be taken into account.
The world of typography has evolved so much throughout history that even today has become a discipline within the world of graphic design. It will allow us to launch a message with more force, making it much more effective in capturing the attention of our public.
What is typography?
To start this post, we cannot do it without correctly defining what typography is. It is about the study and implementation of the various types of typographic fonts, letters, symbols or punctuation marks. The purpose of this study is to achieve an adequate communication of a certain message.
As we mentioned in the introduction, is one of the most important design elements today, and it should be noted that the various types of typography that exist manage to convey different sensations to the audience.
It has become one of the most studied and requested disciplines in the world of design studios and agencies. for campaigns with certain companies or brands.
What is the main function of typography?
We already know what typography is and now, we dive into the question of what function it has. As well, Typography has an end because, if we launch a message to our audience with a typography that is not appropriate, the image of the campaign will not be strong and therefore, the message will not be effective at all.
So that this does not happen, we must know the different possibilities offered by the various design tools with which we are going to work, in order to impact our public and generate certain emotions.
All the The main purposes of choosing a good typography are the following:
- going to achieve transmit sensations and emotions to our audience
- We will differentiate from the competition
- Let build a brand identity with it
- Will help us give more strength to our message
- Help the public to more readable reading
Classification of typefaces
Source: Types with character
We already know two key points in the world of typography, what it means and what it can bring us. Now is the time to learn about the different types of fonts that we can find.
There is a wide variety of font styles, so talking about each of them can take too long. But we are not going to leave without talking about the most important classification that can be made of fonts.
Serif – Roman
We refer to those typefaces that have serifs or terminals, that is, small decorative elements that are located at the ends of the letter paths.
This type of fonts are considered as serious and traditional lettering styles. They usually have an institutional and formal air. They are fonts, which work properly for long texts or very dense paragraphs, due to the endings of their letters that help make reading much easier.
Sans serif – sans serif
In this second group of the classification we talk about the typefaces that do not have serifs or terminals as in the previous case. Generally, in the fonts of this group, their paths hardly have any contrast.
They are usually associated with designs related to the commercial world, since they ensure a good result in printed media such as headlines, posters, corporate identity, etc. They are fountains that awaken a feeling of modernity, safety and minimalism.
Sans-serif fonts can also be found in texts, but unlike the previous case, These fonts are used for smaller paragraphs or titles.
Script – italics
Also known as handwritten fonts, they are fonts that imitate calligraphy made by hand, so on certain occasions they can be called calligraphic fonts.
As a general rule, these typefaces have an italic or cursive style, the letters are linked together and in addition, more pronounced curves or different decorative elements in curl shapes can be found.
In this group of fonts, it should be noted that they have their own personality due to these characteristics that we have just named. They are usually related to awakening feelings of craftsmanship, closeness and humanity.
Decorative – exhibition
Finally, we are going to talk about the group of decorative fonts or also called display. They are fonts with a fun, rebellious and carefree style, which can help you awaken different sensations among your audience, always depending on the type of letter chosen.
They are fonts with a great personality, transgressive and that help you capture the attention of the public more quickly.. But in certain cases, it may happen that legibility at the time of reading is lost due to its complicated design, they are usually created with a specific objective where this aspect may not be present.
What do we mean when we talk about font family?
a typography family, refers to a set of characters, which have certain characteristics in commonboth in its structure and in its style. These characteristics will make their identification and classification much easier.
The characters that make up a font family are similar to each other, but they always have some element in their appearance that makes them unique, variables such as weight, inclination or proportion.
As it happens with the typefaces that there are infinity of them, the typeface families are not far behind, since there is a great variety such as the Futura or the Gotham.
Now you know what typography is and what are the most important aspects that it can bring us, so when you are facing a new design project you must take them into account. In this way, your message will be much more attractive and effective with your audience, making your brand stand out from the rest and become a more solid brand.