Font

Font refers to a complete set of characters or type with similar shape, style, and proportions; fonts are [Page 335]used in printing, graphic design, and viewing on computer monitors. For example, The New York Times is printed using a widely recognized font created especially for The New York Times in 1931, called “Times.” The font selected can have a dramatic impact on the feeling of professionalism, playfulness, or excitement engendered by a document.

Fonts are grouped into categories such as Modern (Times Roman), Old Style (Bookman Old Style), Decorative (JUNIPER), Script (Swing), and text letters (Old English). Fonts are also grouped into serif fonts, or those with “serifs” (curls or flourishes on the ends of characters), and sans serif fonts, or those without “serifs” or curls or flourishes. Ariel is a sans serif font, and Times Roman is a serif font.

Fonts that share the same basic shape, style, and proportion but vary in weight, width, or size are called font families. An example of a font family is Helvetica, which includes Helvetica Regular, Helvetica italic, Helvetica bold, Helvetica Black, Helvetica Narrow, Helvetica Compressed, and others.

One of the rules of effective typography is to use only a few fonts (or a single font family) per document. By using a font family like Helvetica, an individual has the ability to create headings (using Helvetica Black, for example), or to change the aesthetic feel of a document by using a narrow typeface or reducing the character weight.

Fonts are measured in points. There are 72 points per inch. Here is Times New Roman in six different type sizes:

A 12-point font will typically yield six lines per inch of text at single spacing. We say “typically” because, as Michael Bruno explains, “Corresponding letters in the same size type may vary in height. We say that the face is either small on body…or large on body” (2000, p. 37). For example, the following are all 24-point lowercase A's:

The space between lines of type is called “leading” (pronounced ledding). Although most personal computer users are accustomed to selecting “single,” “space-and-a-half” or “double” spacing from the menu bar of their word processing programs, in professional practice leading is measured in points. Twelve points of leading applied to a 12-point font (called “solid” or single spacing) will yield six lines per inch of text. Using 24-points of leading with a 12-point font will result in double-spaced lines of text, or three lines per inch of text.

Adjusting the space between characters is called “kerning” and is also measured in points. Kerning can be increased or decreased to achieve specific typographic effects.