Difference Between a Typeface and a Font?
Its really important when you are producing any outbound marketing (or inbound marketing for that matter!) in terms graphic design or website design, where your brand will be seen by your potential target audience, that you use the appropriate design tools and marketing devices. Typeface and fonts are a crucial part of this in your marketing communication and its important to have a little understanding about them.
Fonts and Typefaces – Overview
A typeface is actually group of characters, such as letters, numbers, and punctuation, which share a common design or style. Times New Roman, Arial, Helvetica and Courier are all typefaces.
In typography, a typeface is a set of one or more fonts, in one or more sizes, designed with stylistic unity, each comprising a coordinated set of glyphs; which is an artistic interpretation, or design, of a collection of written symbols. A typeface may include glyphs for alphabetic characters, numerals, punctuation, various symbols, and more – often for multiple languages
A typeface contains a series of fonts. For example, the typeface Arial contains the fonts Arial, Arial Bold, Arial Italic and Arial Bold Italic. Some have light, condensed tall versions.
Serif fonts are based on a typeface with small decorative extensions at the ends of the main strokes of characters. Almost all books, newspapers, and magazines use serif fonts. The little horizontal lines (serifs) at the end of the vertical strokes guide the eye when you read large tracts of text.
Sans-Serif fonts are characterized by absence of serifs and are believed to be less legible than serif typefaces, but often used for headings. The stroke weight is usually uniform and the stress oblique, though there are exceptions. Sans-serif fonts are used, typically when a large typeface is necessary for example in headlines.
Sans-serif fonts are also used a lot for text that would be read on screen such as websites. Verdana is a sans-serif font that has been designed specifically for web use.
Point sizes are important when we start to consider the target audience. If you are targeting over 40s, then consider using 12pt.
Make it easy to read – Typeface and Font in Webdesign
Once you have got a prospect to your site, you need to keep them there!
In an ideal world your content will be compelling, dynamic and should be re-freshed regularly – to keep the punters coming back. At the very least you need to ensure clarity in the detail – communicate clearly what you do and the benefits of the services or products you offer. Choose fonts that are easy to read – if in doubt use Verdana. Verdana is a typeface that was designed specifically for reading on screen – makes sense to use it for web-copy.
Then choose a background colour that does not interfere with readability – and if in doubt make it white or pale grey. White text on a black background looks great but is really hard to read large blocks of.
Give us a call or drop me an email if you need help. You’ll find out get more information on marketing consultancy and graphic design on our website.
Matthew Simmons
Marketing Director – Snap Marketing
About the author
Matthew Simmons, following a successful corporate career developing and launching technology products in many different fields, has had over 6 years experience, as a contract interim, helping businesses at all stages of their development fulfill their potential through planned, creative marketing and business development.
PS Please get in touch – I’d love to hear how you get on.
Author: Matthew Simmons
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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