uchi’s Typographic Periodic Table of Elements
There’s quite a few “Periodic Table of Typefaces” T shirts and posters but uchi’s version is not just a Periodic Table of Typefaces for typography geeks done in the ‘style’ of the Periodic Table. uchi’s Typographic Periodic Table uses the actual Periodic Table of Elements, containing both elements and typefaces for chemistry geeks and typography geeks alike. In my opinion, there’s no point in displaying typefaces using such an iconic (and useful) format just because it looks good, without trying, at least, to do justice to both the Periodic Table and typography. Plus I love both science and typography, so had to put the work in…
uchi’s Periodic Table — a brief description of each typeface group.
There are many styles of type and many classification systems – defined by their visual characteristics (stroke contrast, serif shape, etc) and their historical development or reference. Here, I’ve tried to match typefaces over the ages into their main classifications within the element groups on the Periodic Table. Also, except for the Lanthanoids and Actinoids (Glyphic, Script, Blackletter and Graphic faces) and, where possible, in each element group, the typefaces are in roughly in date order from the top to bottom. There are some notable exceptions for aesthetic reasons. For example, Helevtica, which was made in 1957, had to be Hydrogen!
Want to know your serif from your slab-serif? Read on for a description of each type style.