Serif vs Sans Serif
Text Type vs Display Type
Read Beatrice Warde's essay from 1030 about type: The Crystal Goblet, or Printing Should Be Invisible. She references that a goblet is clear to allow its contents to be seen, not the goblet itself. Just as typesetting allows the content to be easily understood without becoming the focus. Letterforms should be clear to allow the viewer to see the shapes of the letters with zero effort.
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Text Type (Body Text or Body Copy)Designed to be read at large quantities at small sizes. Examples: newspaper stories, magazine articles, or books.
Some of the most popular text type today are actually digital versions of typeface that have been around for hundreds of years. They are still clear.
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Display TypeTypically used in small quantities for emphasis.
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