This month, I'm tossing Web-specific issues out the window and focusing on the primary typographic concepts from a designer's perspective. Type Categories, Families, and Faces There are so many different kinds of type that they've been grouped into sensible containers so that we can keep track of them. A type category is the master group or family. Think of this as a typeface's ethnic heritage. For example, I'm of Slavic descent, which genetically predisposes me to certain physical traits such as body type and skin color.
Every typeface has a heritage, too.
Within my ethnic group, I'm identified by a specific family identifier found in my last name, Holzschlag. A typeface is a unique font within a category and family group. A font is the technical term used to describe the physical component of type design, while typeface refers to the visual features of the type. This is a familiar standard group identified by smaller strokes or flourishes used to embellish individual letters. A group common to Web design is the sans serif category.