Fonts are not Typefaces, well they kind of are..but not really!

What the Font?

Ok, so we played on the wording a but it can get a bit confusing when we talk about fonts and typefaces. What should we call it, a font or a typeface?

There is a bit of history to it and it goes back to the days when printing plates were used. Big heavy blocks of text were known as typefaces and fonts were the result. The thing is it gets a tad complicated to explain and actually it seems pretty much that nowadays we have adopted a unilateral approach and therefore happily interchange both words.

We did however find this explanation online and it pretty much sums it up…

Typeface: is the design of the alphabet–the shape of the letters that make up the typestyle. The letters, numbers, and symbols that make up a design of type. So when you say “Arial” or “Goudy” you’re talking about a set of letters in a specific style.

Font: is the digital file that contains/describes the typeface. Think of the font as a little piece of software that tells the computer and printer how to display and print the typeface.

Now that we cleared that up, let’s look at some of the new Fonts of 2015…..or is it Typeface? ……

We found this selection at myfonts.com They seem to have a wide selection of affordable options as well of course as the more premium offerings. Their rather nifty test engine is a good option for designers looking to source something a bit different. It’s also cleverly laid out in a simple user friendly interface.