Typography : Six Races of Fonts

Font Races: Typographers classify fonts by certain physical characteristics of the letterform. These classifications are known as Races.

The Six Races of Fonts Black Letter Roman Square Serif Sans Serif Script & Cursive Decorative Review Font Races While this taxonomy is subject to debate among scholars of typography, it is generally accepted that the abovementioned six races are the main classifications of font. They are presented, more or less, in chronological order from the earliest to the latest. All the font samples in this presentation are set at 48 points in a graphic image without leading or compression. Notice how the some of the fonts take up more space on the page, while others take up less.

University of Northern Colorado • Dr. Linda Lohr • ©2000