Introduction:
One of the earliest font styles identified in Typography’s history is Gutenberg’s Black letter calligraphy. Since then, font wizards have added numerous font styles to the list. As such, the responsibility of identification of these fonts lied entirely on the shoulders of these experts. Meanwhile, technology has also made significant progress. Various automation, leveraging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Machine learning etc. have been instrumental in the development of Typography. One sparkling example of the impact of technology on design is – “What the font“.
What is “What the font”?
What the font is a font recognition app developed by the Delaware based Monotype Imaging’s font delivery service – Myfonts. It uses deep learning techniques to find one perfect match and over 20 close matches to the font in the picture you upload. You can also upload your image on the website version of this app at myfonts.com.
What facilitates this highly efficient font recognition is the vast inventory of over 13,000 font styles powered by Myfonts. These fonts can be broadly classified into the following six categories.
1) Sans Serif
2) Slab Serif
3) Serif
4) Display
5) Handwritten
6) Script
What fonts do “What the font” offer?
Let’s take a deeper look into these categories offered by What the font:
1) Sans Serif:
As the name suggests, sans serif is the font style that is without serif. In typography, serif is a small extension in the form of a line at the end or beginning of a larger line. Sans serif, is the font style that is identified by the absence of this extension. It is usually used to represent minimalism. What the font offers these 5 bestselling fonts in the Sans Serif category.
- Futura Now
- Gilroy
- Neue Helvetica
- Avenir
- Cera Pro
2) Slab Serif:
Slab Serif fonts are identified by thick slab like serifs (short extension at the end of a longer line). These fonts are majorly used in headlines so as to highlight an element. What the font offers these 5 bestselling fonts in the Slab Serif category.
- Macklin
- Nexa Rust
- Museo Slab
- Hanley Pro
- Mixta
3) Serif:
As mentioned above, serif font styles are identified by small extensions at the end of a larger line and are also called Roman. What the font offers these 5 bestselling fonts in the Serif category.
- Recoleta
- TT Ramillas
- Juana
- Macklin
- Plantin
4) Display:
Display font styles are inspired by calligraphic designs and usually have a variable design forms. These fonts are used for headings and subheadings. What the font offers these 5 bestselling fonts in the Display category.
- Futura Now
- Gilroy
- Neue Helvetica
- Avenir
- Cera Pro
5) Handwritten:
As the name suggests, these are based on handwritten styles. What the font offers these 5 bestselling fonts in the Handwritten category.
- Futura Now
- Palmer Lake
- Madina Script
- Northwell
- Moon Time
6) Script:
These fonts are similar to handwriting and are composed of more fluid strokes as compared to bold or straight lines. Script font types are more inspired by cursive writing. What the font offers these 5 bestselling fonts in the Script category.
- Futura Now
- Palmer Lake
- Madina Script
- Northwell
- Moon Time
Let’s see more about each of these sub categories as mentioned in myfonts.com:
1) Futura now:
“Futura Now was designed by Paul Renner, Edwin Shaar, Steve Matteson, Terrance Weinzierl, Monotype Studio, Juan Villanueva and published by Monotype. Futura Now contains 107 styles and family package options. The font is currently #1 in Best Sellers.”
2) Gilroy:
“Gilroy was designed by Radomir Tinkov and published by Radomir Tinkov. Gilroy contains 20 styles and family package options. The font is currently #2 in Best Sellers. Gilroy is a modern sans serif with a geometric touch. A younger brother of the original Qanelas font family. It comes in 20 weights, 10 uprights and its matching italics. The Light & ExtraBold weights are free of charge, so you can use them to your heart’s content”
3) Neue Helvetica:
“Neue Helvetica was designed by Max Miedinger, Edouard Hoffmann and published by Linotype. Neue Helvetica contains 160 styles and family package options. The font is currently #3 in Best Sellers. The Neue Helvetica sets new standards in terms of its form and number of variants. It is the quintessential sans serif font, timeless and neutral, and can be used for all types of communication.”
4) Avenir:
“Avenir was designed by Adrian Frutiger and published by Linotype. Avenir contains 24 styles and family package options. The font is currently #4 in Best Sellers. The word Avenir means “future” in French and hints that the typeface owes some of its interpretation to Futura. But unlike Futura , Avenir is not purely geometric; it has vertical strokes that are thicker than the horizontals, an “o” that is not a perfect circle, and shortened ascenders.”
5) Cera Pro:
“Cera Pro was designed by Jakob Runge and published by TypeMates. Cera Pro contains 12 styles and family package options. The font is currently #5 in Best Sellers. The starting point for the collection, Cera Pro is distilled from elementary shapes and brings simplicity, elegance and a certain warmth wherever a contemporary geometric typeface is needed. Cera Pro’s six weights, thin to black, give it a full range of expression for interfaces and corporate design; in print, on screen and in multiple languages. Matching italics, carefully sloped a lively 10º, are invigorated with a dash of rotalic flavor: keeping the o a perfect circle and giving Cera Pro’s italics striking effect when used for display typography.”
6) Macklin:
“Macklin was designed by Malou Verlomme and published by Monotype. Macklin contains 58 styles and family package options. The font is currently #33 in Best Sellers.”
7) Nexa Rust:
“Nexa Rust was designed by Svetoslav Simov, Ani Petrova, Vasil Stanev, Radomir Tinkov and published by Fontfabric. Nexa Rust contains 83 styles and family package options.”
8) Museo Slab:
“Museo Slab was designed by Jos Buivenga and published by exljbris. Museo Slab contains 12 styles and family package options.”
9) Hanley Pro:
“Hanley Pro was designed by Megan Tamaccio, Aleksandar Veljasevic and published by District 62 Studio. Hanley Pro contains 23 styles and family package options.”
10) Mixta:
“Mixta was designed by Rodrigo Fuenzalida and published by Latinotype. Mixta contains 54 styles and family package options. “
11) Recoleta:
“Recoleta was designed by Jorge Cisterna and published by Latinotype. Recoleta contains 15 styles and family package options. The font is currently #15 in Best Sellers.”
12) TT Ramillas:
“TT Ramillas was designed by TypeType Team, Pavel Emelyanov, Marina Khodak, Yulia Gonina, Kseniya Karataeva and published by TypeType. TT Ramillas contains 20 styles and family package options. The font is currently #25 in Best Sellers.”
13) Juana:
“Juana was designed by Eli Hernández and published by Latinotype. Juana contains 24 styles and family package options. The font is currently #28 in Best Sellers. “
14) Plantin:
“Plantin was designed by Frank Pierpont and published by Monotype. Plantin contains 18 styles and family package options. The font is currently #40 in Best Sellers.”
15) Palmer Lake:
“Palmer Lake was designed by Jen Wagner and published by Jen Wagner Co.. Palmer Lake contains 2 styles and family package options. The font is currently #47 in Best Sellers. “
16) Madina Script:
“Madina Script was published by Set Sail Studios. Madina Script contains 4 styles and family package options.”
17) Northwell:
“Northwell was designed by Sam Parrett and published by Set Sail Studios. Northwell contains 6 styles and family package options. The font is currently #45 in Best Sellers. “
18) Moon Time:
“Moon Time was designed by Dmitrii Chirkov and published by Dmitrii Chirkov. Moon Time contains 4 styles and family package options.”
Each of these fonts can also be sorted based on relevance, price, recent fonts and price.
Additional Features:
1) The app works wonderfully on connected scripts. (Connected scripts are the script type in which each alphabet is connected to each other)
2) The app can identify multiple fonts from one single line in the uploaded image.
How to use the app?
Now let’s consider the above image and see how the app works:
1) As a first step, the app asks you to upload an image of your choice in JPG or PNG format.
2) Step 2 is to select the part of the text that you want to identify. For demonstration purposes, I have selected the first few words of the text.
3) Ta-Da! The app identifies the exact font, which is Sans Serif, within seconds.
4) It also provides a list of 20 fonts similar to the image font. You can buy these at the price mentioned for each of these.
