"What font did you use on your project?"
"What font is that title set in?"
This is something that often gets at me. I know I've never been perfect at using correct terminology, but I'm working on correcting that. I think it's severely important for all of us as designers to use proper nomenclature. This post is to help those of you not familiar with the definitions to better understand those little forms we all use daily.
A typeface is essentially the design created by the type designer. John Baskerville created the typeface bearing his name, Baskerville. The design is the typeface.
A font is the physical collection of all the letters, numbers, symbols and whatnot. I have heard it compared to a song and an mp3. A song is like the typeface, and the mp3 is the delivery vehicle of the song. A font is the delivery vehicle of the typeface.
So, basically to sum this up, the font is what you use, the typeface is what you see. Now, isn't all that just confusing?
