The main types of fonts are serif, sans-serif, decorative, script and monospace. Each font type has a different look and design use.
Serif fonts have the tails or decorative strokes at the end of the letters. These fonts have a very traditional look and are used extensively for large blocks of running body text, such as in books, newspapers, magazines and websites. Examples include Times New Roman Bold and Charter Bold. While Times New Roman is usually installed with the Mac or Windows OS, it can be found on Adobe Fonts or My Fonts. Charter can be found at Fontesk, among other locations.
Sans-serif fonts do not have the strokes at the ends of letters, and consequently have a more clean and modern look. Sans-serif fonts are used in designing display type, headlines and websites. Examples include Helvetica (regular here) and Arial. Helevetica can be acquired at MyFonts; Arial is a standard font on Mac and Windows operating systems.
Script fonts are designed to present handwritten or cursive styles. These fonts can be elegantly formal or everyday casual. Script fonts are used in the design of greeting cards, invitations, logos, headlines and display text. An example of a formal script font would be Brush Script MT (Adobe Fonts or Free Font Download). A more relaxed and fun font would be Comic Sans MS, also available online from Adobe Fonts, among other sites.
Decorative fonts are aptly named—they are unique fonts that are ideally used in posters, advertisements and logos. Decorative fonts catch the viewer’s attention; examples include Copperplate Gothic and Yesteryear Regular. Copperplate is available from MyFonts; Yesteryear can be downloaded from Google Fonts.
Monoface fonts are used in coding and digital applications; the characters in Monoface fonts all have the same width and have a typewriter- or computer-like appearance. Examples include Monaco and Courier. Both Monaco and Courier are installed on Mac and Windows operating systems.