Types of Fonts: Serif, Sans-Serif, Script and More

There are hundreds of thousands of fonts, but almost all of them belong to a handful of families. Learn to recognize those families and you can describe any font in a few words, choose type with more confidence, and identify fonts much faster.

Here are the main types of fonts, how to spot each one, and famous examples you’ve already seen.

The main types at a glance

Type	How to spot it	Famous examples	Mood
Serif	Small finishing strokes on the letters	Garamond, Times New Roman, Bodoni	Traditional, trustworthy, literary
Slab serif	Thick, block-like serifs	Rockwell, Clarendon	Sturdy, bold, retro
Sans-serif	No serifs, clean ends	Helvetica, Futura, Gill Sans	Modern, clean, direct
Script	Joined, flowing letters like handwriting	Snell Roundhand, Brush Script	Elegant or casual
Handwritten	Looks written by hand, often unjoined	Caveat, Permanent Marker	Personal, friendly
Display	Made for big sizes, full of character	ITC Benguiat, Cooper Black	Playful, dramatic
Monospace	Every letter takes the same width	Courier, Space Mono	Technical, typewriter
Blackletter	Dense, angular, medieval strokes	Fraktur, Old English	Gothic, historic

Serif fonts

Serif fonts have small strokes, called serifs, at the ends of their letters. They’re the oldest printed style, and they still dominate books and newspapers. Type experts split them into a few groups:

• Old-style, such as Garamond and Caslon: soft contrast, and round letters that are thinnest at an angle, like a pen stroke.
• Transitional, such as Baskerville and Times New Roman: sharper contrast and a more upright look.
• Didone, such as Bodoni and Didot: extreme contrast between hairline-thin and heavy strokes. Think fashion magazine covers.
• Slab serif, such as Rockwell and Clarendon: thick, square serifs with little contrast. Bold and sturdy.

Sans-serif fonts

“Sans” means “without”, so these fonts have no serifs. They feel modern and clean, and they’re the default for websites and apps. There are four main groups:

• Grotesque, such as Franklin Gothic and Akzidenz-Grotesk: the early sans-serifs, with a few quirky shapes.
• Neo-grotesque, such as Helvetica, Univers and Arial: neutral, even and very uniform.
• Geometric, such as Futura, Avenir and Gotham: built from circles and straight lines. See our free Futura and Gotham alternatives.
• Humanist, such as Gill Sans, Frutiger and Verdana: based on handwriting proportions, with open, very readable letters.

Script and handwritten fonts

Script fonts have flowing, often joined letters. Formal scripts like Snell Roundhand feel like wedding invitations, while casual scripts like Brush Script feel quick and friendly.

Handwritten fonts look like real writing with a pen or marker, such as Caveat or Permanent Marker. They’re great for a personal touch, but use them in small doses.

Display and decorative fonts

Display fonts are made to be big: posters, logos, titles. They’re full of personality and usually hard to read in long paragraphs. ITC Benguiat, the font behind the Stranger Things logo, is a classic example.

Monospace and blackletter

Monospace fonts give every letter the same width, like a typewriter. They’re used for code and for a technical or retro feel.

Blackletter fonts, sometimes called Gothic or Old English, have dense, angular strokes from medieval handwriting. You’ll see them on newspaper mastheads, beer labels and heavy-metal album covers.

How knowing the type helps you identify fonts

When you can name a font’s type, you’ve already ruled out most of the options. “A geometric sans-serif with a single-storey a” narrows thousands of fonts down to a few dozen. For the finer details that separate those last few, see Font Anatomy: 12 Terms.

Or skip straight to the answer: upload an image to Whatsdafont and it will tell you the type and the closest fonts in seconds.