What’s on the Type Classification poster
A 7-row table: Class · Period · How to spot it.
The Vox groupings, simplified.
- Humanist serif — 1470s — Slanted e bar, low contrast
- Old style — 1500s-1700s — Angled stress, bracketed serifs
- Transitional — 1700s — More contrast, vertical stress
- Didone — 1780s-1800s — Extreme contrast, hairline serifs
- Slab serif — 1810s — Heavy rectangular serifs
- Grotesque sans — 1830s-1900s — Closed apertures, even weight
- Geometric sans — 1920s — Circular o, single-storey a
Classification says where a face came from, not what it may be used for. Gill Sans has set both novels and road signs.
Questions about the Type Classification poster
- What’s on the Type Classification poster?
- A 7-row table: Class · Period · How to spot it. The Vox groupings, simplified. Humanist serif — 1470s — Slanted e bar, low contrast; Old style — 1500s-1700s — Angled stress, bracketed serifs; Transitional — 1700s — More contrast, vertical stress; Didone — 1780s-1800s — Extreme contrast, hairline serifs; Slab serif — 1810s — Heavy rectangular serifs; Grotesque sans — 1830s-1900s — Closed apertures, even weight; Geometric sans — 1920s — Circular o, single-storey a. Classification says where a face came from, not what it may be used for. Gill Sans has set both novels and road signs.
- Who is the Type Classification poster for?
- Type Classification belongs to the Art & Design section rather than to a school year, because design is not something one grade owns. Anyone learning typography can pin it up — a beginner, a student mid-course, or someone revising years later.
- When should you use the Type Classification poster?
- Use it when you need a face with a particular voice rather than a familiar name. A wall chart earns its place by being glanceable from where the work is happening, so Type Classification belongs on the wall where that design work actually happens, within glancing distance, rather than filed away.
- What other posters go with Type Classification?
- The Baseline Grid, Dashes & Quotes and Figures & Small Caps sit alongside Type Classification in the Art & Design section. Printed together they make a wall rather than a single sheet, which is how a reference set actually gets used.The Baseline GridDashes & QuotesFigures & Small Caps
- Is the Type Classification poster free to download and print?
- Yes. Type Classification downloads as a free PDF with no account, no email and no watermark, like everything else in the Art & Design section. Print as many copies as you like for a home, a classroom, a library or a tutoring group; reselling the file is the only thing the licence rules out.Read the licence
- What size does the Type Classification poster print at?
- Type Classification is a vector PDF laid out for US Letter, and prints on A4 with Fit to page — the same file, no separate download. Because every mark on it is drawn rather than photographed, it stays sharp enlarged to A3, A2 or A1 at a copy shop. Colour carries emphasis only, so a greyscale print of Type Classification loses nothing.Printing guide
Related posters
Charts that sit alongside Type Classification on the same wall.
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